The bank's digital «Art Explorer» platform, comprising art therapy workshops, tutorials, resources and exhibitions, is part of its Covid-19 relief program.
UOB is hoping to make art more widely accessible and promote mental well-being and creativity through its online visual arts program, which showcases Southeast Asian artists and their artworks that are part of the bank's Painting of the Year (POY) collection, the bank announced on Friday.
Apart from online galleries and a series of virtual art exhibitions, there will be art tutorials conducted by POY winners fortnightly until the end of the year, and resources for aspiring artists to experiment with. UOB is also providing kits with art materials to 500 children from disadvantaged families across the region so they can participate.
«While the COVID-19 pandemic has kept most of us home, art has the power to release us into the openness of other worlds and experiences,» said Lilian Chong, UOB executive director of programmes and partnerships, said.
Art as Therapy
The bank is also organizing 16 art as therapy sessions conducted by art therapist and educator Yoko Choi, who was a recipient of UOB's 2016 Painting of the Year.
«Participants will be encouraged to explore through the art-making process a range of themes and causes that may be affecting their thoughts, emotions and actions so they can understand themselves better in order to manage their mental well-being,» Choi explained.
