An exhibition aimed at integrating art in low–income schools, a first in Pune

Mehan realised the need for art classes in schools while teaching at a low-income government school in Mumbai. “It was more from student agency to ask for art classes in their classrooms and that’s when I started looking for an art teacher to teach art and create a safer space of expression,” said Mehan.

That’s when she met co-founder Chhavi Khandelwal, who volunteered as an art educator and then Saturday Art Class was born out of a classroom of 30 students. “It was named by our students itself which is why the name is so special to us,” said Khandelwal.

Since then, the organisation has reached 13 states in the country and now focuses on training existing teachers in the education system, to facilitate curriculum and training for visual arts and social emotional learning. This year, it was a runner-up at Harvard President’s Innovation Challenge!

Under its Art for Educators initiative, SAC has rolled out a programme in Maharashtra that trains government school teachers to become creative visual arts facilitators. These aspiring art educators are being equipped with skills to create nurturing and creative environments in their classrooms. “We’ve worked with 300+ educators impacting 12,500 children in Maharashtra,” said Mehan.

In Pune, it currently partners with organisations like Urmi and Yojak and Teach For India, but is in talks with SCERT to reach out to more schools directly. Their classes involve exposing children to new topics and then using their imagination to create artwork and share it with the classroom.