Chongqing- During the recent Covid19 outbreak, Hongfan Middle School in Chongqing opened an online art festival named "Fighting the Epidemic through Art" on November 28th. This event has not only heightened the anticipation of teachers and students towards meeting face to face again in the classroom but has featured an innovative display of clay sculptures which have received lavish praise and been shared widely on social media.

In this series of eight characters sculpted in clay, students have provided the main theme for school art teacher Yang Shuo, who deftly molded the figures to recreate the colorful lives that students would normally follow. In one example from the online event, a trendy and youthful figure holds a football in one hand, and the World Cup mascot La'eeb propped up in the other.

Another sculpture features a team of young lion dance performers and a variety of stances they typically display in the school martial arts group. Besides this art, another piece recalls the scene of student cello players from a previous arts festival.

Yang explained that while working from home, she often thinks of her students expressing artistic skills to the fullest in their social club and their positive attitude towards studying in class. As a result, she hopes the online festival can rekindle fond memories of school life among her students and relieve the psychological pressure they might feel under the present circumstances.

The painstaking effort she invested from the initial concept to the final product took over a month. During that time, she regularly held classes online to communicate with students about the artwork and let them see how far the sculptures had progressed. At the same time, she also made videos of the whole progress for sharing with students.

Many students expressed gratitude and admiration for their teacher's efforts. Cao Xinyu, a middle school student from a class set to graduate in 2025, shared her feelings on the event. "These sculptures feel very close to our hearts because of their familiarity with us and give us warmth and encouragement. They also believe we can overcome the epidemic and return to school."

This engaging art festival displays seven exhibitions on painting, calligraphy, jump dance, online karaoke, parent-child fashion shows, and famous paintings. It is hoped that staff, parents, and students can view the event online to enrich their extracurricular life, show their aesthetic creativity, and strengthen their resolve to overcome the epidemic in unison.