Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 1939. SCHOOL ARTS AND CRAFTS.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 August 1939, Page 6

Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 1939. SCHOOL ARTS AND CRAFTS.

T-TTGTI but well-deserved praise has been given to the extensive and varied display of art and craft work by pupils of district- primary schools exhibited in the .Mastertoil Municipal Hall this week. The universal verdiet is that. the. work is excellent in character and standard and demonstrates happily and convincingly the ability of young children, conceded a large measure of initiative, to master the elements o design and to attain a notable training of eye and hand. Ihe capabilities thus acquired are made evident, not only in various types of drawing, but in the fashioning of articles of many kinds in fabrics, wood, metal and other materials. No one visiting and taking stock of the exhibition could doubt that the pupilsTf the district primary schools have their fair share ol artistic ability and are well endowed, too, with the qualities that are the foundation of good craftsmanship.

Some of those who are taking an active and enthusiastic part in fostering this excellent phase ol the training ol youth regard it avowedly as a preparation for a wise, worthy and profitable use of the greater leisure to be anticipated in an age of machinery. This in itself is a commendable standpoint, hut it is a question whether 1 he’cultivation in the schools of arts and crafts should not be regarded also as a practical and greatly needed contribution to the shaping to better advantage of the'economic life of the community. The machine is not. by any means universally supreme, nor is it desirable that it should ever be allowed to become so. Turned wisely to account, the use of machinery and machine production are capable ol achieving marvels in lightening the labours of life and adding immensely to its amenities, conveniences and comforts. That the introduction and extended use of machinery becomes at times a cause of industrial, economic and social disorganisation and hardship no doubt is a phase which will pass as common sense is brought io bear upon the problems involved.

One contribution may be made To the solution of these problems in giving craftsmanship the attention and the consideration to which it is entitled. It should be perfectly possible to fbster craftsmanship side by side with an increasingly enterprising and intelligent development of machine production. There are many kinds of work that are properly left to machinery, hut there are branches of production also in which craftsmanship, where it is available, may be brought to bear with ail possible advantage. In the case of a multitude of articles that are needed in the home and elsewhere, the difference between 1 he work of the eraftsman and the. product of the-machine is almost to be likened to the difference between the quick and the (lead. In the extent to which we learn to deal wisely with our community problems, we shall cherish and foster the qualities made manifest in the exhibition of school arts and crafts, not merely in the interests of an intelligent, use of leisure, hut as an invaluable contribution to the better and more worthy ordering of our economic and social life.