The multi-talented artist, Lucky Ntimani, has just made a public statement that he is shutting down his Tinyiko Art School in Mbhokota village near Elim, after experiencing years of endless financial hardship.
"I used money from my own pocket to ensure that I taught art to over 270 youths each year," he said. "They would not even pay a cent to the school since they were just children who all came from poor villages."
Ntimani said that he had started the art school for a good cause but added that he now felt discouraged to continue with it. "This was not a qualification-based school but based on expertise acquired," he said. "Many of the children who had attended my programmes are producing excellent art pieces that sell well in the mainstream market."
According to Ntimani, many people had approached him throughout the years with intentions of either funding his projects or helping him to access funds from the government, but they would only collect the necessary knowledge about the organisation and vanish.
"The next thing I would see them splashing money on extravagant cars and leading a luxury lifestyle, so I have come to think that they might have received those funds and decided to pocket the money," he said. "So, now I am shutting down the art school. Government is not helpful for rural artists like me. They should have been injecting funds into my projects, so that I can continue with my art workshops and skills-transfer programmes, which mainly focus on youths and help to keep them off the harsh streets."
Ntimani assured the public that he was not leaving the arts as an artist himself. "I was born an artist and I will continue with my art," he said.
Those interested in Ntimani's art and his other artistic activities can phone him on 063 720 3114.