Nobility and the art of being young

Zhong Baoxian in front of her work. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The sunlight has also lit up Yanfei's canvass, as her paintings are drenched in the saturating colors of yellow, blue and green. Wang Wei says color open helps children frame up their best works.

"It's of utmost importance for the students to look at their own works and draw from there the same delight as they would from the masterpieces," he said. "We want the children to regard themselves as creators of beauty. And beauty is something that takes hold of us before anything else - logics for example - does."

Wang Jinhua, whose daughter Wei Jing spent five years at Lijuan Art, says she clearly remembers the very first class the girl had. "The teacher draped a piece of cloth over the bike shed just outside the building. The students were then handed sprinklers with which they could spray the cloth. What came out of the sprinklers was, of course, paint."

Asked whether her young students could grasp the meaning behind everything they did (in one case they are asked to lie down on a public square), Wang Li Juan said that to get into action - or non-action as in this case - is one way to help them understand things.