The exhibition organised to mark one year of Impart. (Bishwarup Dutta)

Masters Collection Art Gallery celebrated a year of Impart — art classes for grown-ups with a penchant for the paintbrush — with an exhibition at its Woodburn Park Road address on July 17.

Works of the students, including homemakers, professionals and college-goers, shared wall space with their teachers, and some masters.

“I had made a list of things that I wanted to do before I died and one of them was drawing. But I had no idea when I joined Impart that I would have a sketch on exhibition within a year!” smiled Suniti Khastgir.

Agreed Sanjeeta Ahmed, who sold two paintings. “I had always enjoyed drawing, but lost touch with it. When I joined Impart, I had just wanted to explore. I have enjoyed every work that I have done here,” she said.

If the students were overjoyed, the artists who guide them were beaming with pride. “When students join Impart, I let them draw something they want and try to identify their weakness. Once that is corrected, they manage very well,” explained Sanjib Sen, one of the ‘mentors’ at Impart.

With 100 students in a year, Impart is now set for expansion. “We plan to start a second centre, in Salt Lake. We’ve also been approached by corporate houses to host workshops for employees, as a de-stressing exercise,” said Samir Desai, the man behind the gallery and the classes.

The plan closest to his heart is to start an online gallery to sell the works of the students. “Indian art is in huge demand. But the works of professionals and masters is very expensive. For people who just want a good painting for their room, canvases by art students work very well. We will upload 500 works to start with, priced at less than Rs 10,000 each,” said Desai.

t2 pick: Lipee Roy’s acrylic on canvas. The painting, mostly in green, has a girl sitting by the window of a crumbling building, cactus growing below. Life-like and mysterious.

Parampara Boulevard, in association with The Telegraph, is ready with its third edition of the lifestyle fair. Hosted by the Rotary Club of Calcutta Chowrenghee, the daylong exhibition will set up shop at ITC Sonar Calcutta on July 30 from noon to 10pm.

Looking to cater to the rakhi and sindhara shoppers, the mart will bring together fashion, accessories, jewellery and other collectibles, all under one roof, from across the country.

Jadau and stone-studded jewels by Jaipur’s Brinda Rungta, fashion by Lucknow’s Anju Narain, Mumbai’s Nikki Merani, Natasha Sejal and bags and other accessories by Mumbai’s Shelina Kukar are some of the names to look forward to. Rohan Arora’s kitschy footwear, Sayantan Sarkar’s tunics, dresses and suits and candles by Micasa are among the labels that will add a Calcutta flavour.

“Parampara Boulevard has the season’s latest trends and the must-haves from across India. The exhibition gives the participants an opportunity to experiment and showcase designs specially prepared for the exhibition. We thought of having a third Parampara after Parampara and Parampara Pret to accommodate the numerous requests we get from the participants each year,” says Sangita Todi, charter president, Rotary Club of Calcutta Chowrenghee.

Poulomi Banerjee
Have you ever made a list of ‘things to do before I die’? What tops that list? Tell t2@abp.in