When people rally together for a good cause, it often blossoms into something beautiful. This was the case for the CAG Art Fair 2023, organised by Changi Foundation in support of artists with special needs. Dubbed “The Artists’ Garden,” the nature-themed showcase was held at Changi Airport Group (CAG)’s office pantry in late 2023.

While the art fair has been an annual event for the past two years, 2023’s instalment was special in more ways than one. The theme for this art fair took inspiration from the reopening of Terminal 2 (T2), which was designed with nature in mind.  As part of CAG’s commitment to ensure that the airport remains an open and inclusive space for everyone, the art fair became a platform for special needs artists to showcase their talents, build sustainable livelihoods and help audiences see how T2 looks like through the eyes of the differently-abled community. 

To celebrate the diverse capabilities of the special needs community, the fair saw the coming together of 17 special needs artists from Arts@Metta, Artably, ChristanTan.ArtConnections and Journey by TOUCH Community Services.  

Each artist brought their unique style and perspective to the table, resulting in a vibrant showcase of art products for sale. This included tote bags, pin badges, ceramics, tumblers, coasters, and many more. During the art fair, CAG employees were invited to meet the artists themselves, which gave the creators the opportunity to share more about the inspiration behind their art, before bids to buy the art pieces were placed.

Left: Some of the batik artwork sold by Arts@Metta; Right: Some artists even got the chance to share about their art with CAG’s senior management

The highly anticipated silent auction also saw 40 artworks up for grabs throughout the event, ranging in medium from batik to stencils, watercolour to acrylic. The art fair attracted 46 bids, with the highest number of bids going to an adorable depiction of cats entitled “Seven” by Muhammad Fadhil from Arts@Metta. Jozie Keok, another artist from Arts@Metta, created the piece that received the highest bid of S$1,888 was a playful composition of astronauts called “The Universe is our Playground”. 

Left: Seven (2023) by Muhammad Fadhil received the highest number of bids; Right: The Universe is our Playground (2023) by Jozie Keok was sold at the highest price

Altogether, nearly S$17,000 was raised – more than 140% increase from the previous year’s sales. 

In addition to the hard work and dedication of the artists, the success of “The Artists’ Garden” was only possible by the collective efforts of various CAG divisions who pitched in to bring it to life – another aspect which made this art fair particularly special.

Preparations for the art fair took place months before the event. To help the artists gather inspiration for their pieces, a tour of the newly revamped T2 was organised by the Airport Operations Development division back in August 2023. The artists went on a journey through the nature-inspired terminal and were invited to take photos, create sketches, and even feel features like the walls to get a sense of the varied textures. 

Creators had free rein to design their art pieces as they liked, all while receiving guidance from their organisations’ respective mentors. Colleagues from CAG’s Design Management team also arranged regular sessions for the artists to get design advice on areas like colour scheme, composition, and framing to bring out the best in their pieces. In addition, the Design Management and Horticultural Teams also lent their creative juices to transform the exhibition area into a lush garden, repurposing display elements from various parts of T2 to enliven the office pantry where the fair was held.

Left: Artists at the end of the inspiration tour of T2; Right: Design Management and Horticultural colleagues created an exhibition area akin to a lush garden at the pantry

Amin from Artably shared, “We would like to express our wholehearted gratitude and appreciation to CAG for this opportunity. By collaborating on this project, it enabled us to showcase our artist's talents and at the same time, share the meaningful stories behind T2’s designs. There was a genuine sense of anticipation and anxiety about how our co-created merchandise would be received, but the overwhelming love and support we experienced from both the CAG team and staff during the art exhibition day truly touched our hearts. We look forward to future opportunities to work together again.”

Mr Zhou Qixiang, Manager, People, Development & Experience, who supports Changi Foundation shared, “This year’s art fair is the first time we have gone out with such a big bang, with different divisions and social service organisations getting together for a good cause! We’re overwhelmed by the amount of ’hard and heart’ work that went in behind the scenes to make the event a successful and record-breaking one. In fact, this was more than just an exhibition – it was a celebration of the stories and abilities of the differently abled, where talent knows no bounds and dreams become reality.”