Mangaluru: At 76, veteran artist B Dayananda, founder of Daya School of Arts, is on a mission to help a govt school meet its basic needs through art. For nearly four years, Dayananda has been teaching charcoal painting free of cost to students of the Sandpit Bengre Govt Higher Primary School. Noticing the school’s lack of basic amenities, he decided to raise funds by putting the students’ artwork up for sale at a stall in the Kala Parbha art exhibition.Dayananda told TOI that the immediate requirement of the school was an inverter. “We hope to raise funds for an inverter by selling the students’ charcoal paintings,” he said. Works of 10 to 12 students were displayed at the exhibition, each priced at Rs 500.Dayananda, who graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 1974, trained under noted artist Ramdas Shevgoor and at the BGM School of Art. Calling Shevgoor his favourite teacher, he said he taught charcoal painting to govt school students in about five schools, including Kapikad and Gandhinagar, for nearly a decade. “The talent govt school children possess is amazing. They show so much love and enthusiasm and look forward to coming and sitting with me,” he said.Umalakshmi K, headmistress of Sandpit Bengre Govt Higher Primary School, said the children have a keen interest in drawing, but lack opportunities to learn due to the absence of a dedicated art teacher. “The school has a strength of just 75 students and no drawing teacher. Dayananda has been taking up free classes for the past four years, usually on Saturdays. It was entirely his idea to do something for the school,” she said.She said that Dayananda earlier contributed funds to the school by selling his own work. “He realised that classrooms become dark during the rainy season, and with most work now shifting online, an inverter became essential. If more funds are raised, they will be used to build a compound wall and install a steel basin in the handwash area,” she said.The headmistress noted that the school sustained itself with the support of donors and SDMC members. “When we see what Dayananda is doing at this age, our contribution feels very small,” she said.The school currently has three govt appointed teachers, one guest teacher, and three teachers sponsored by local residents. Dayananda loves painting Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Guru and has a vast collection of his portraits.
