Tattoo artist wants art form taught in schools

Shavar Cummings is on a mission to have tattooing and body piercings, an art he is passionate about, introduced to the secondary school curriculum by 2035.

"It is my hope that it will be taught in schools. I am hoping, although I haven't had any official talks with persons from like the Ministry of Education, I hope to start the discussion soon," Cummings shared. That is why he is training his first 'student', his six-year-old daughter Savannah.

"I believe in children exploring and I think we lack creativity in so many aspects in Jamaica. She was curious and I think if she is interested in something her father does, why not be the first person to show and teach her? If she grow up and want to do tattoos, I have no problem with that. It is my way of exposing her to non-traditional jobs," Cummings said. The training session between the father and his daughter had been documented on TikTok, which shows Cummings directing Savannah through the process of tattooing. He guides her as she carefully places the stencil on to fake skin and shows the proper handling of the tattoo needle and gun. Cummings indicated that he is not afraid of backlash from persons who may not agree.

"I teach her how to drive so it's not just tattoos. I can't swim and I want her to learn. I want her to be very versatile in the world," he stressed.

But President of the Parent-Teachers' Association, Stewart Jacobs, told THE STAR that should tattooing and piercings be introduced into schools, it "will be a mammoth task for the Ministry of Education."

"I don't think right now Jamaica is ready to have tattooing in schools introduced as a trade. We are not ready, we are not equipped and I don't think the psyche of Jamaicans are in that place. It may be something for the future," Jacobs explained.

He argued that other options such as solar energy installation and deeper environmental studies should be explored.

"Tattooing right now, we are not ready because of the health factors involved and the intricacies of it. Where are you going to get persons from who will be willing to teach and to have a child put a tattoo on you? I think the gentleman [Cummings] is thinking out loud. He is thinking outside the box. But right now, the Jamaican landscape is not ready for it. Personally, I am not against it because it is an art but to introduce into schools now is something that I would caution," Jacobs shared.

Cummings is a 28-year-old tattoo artist based in St Ann who has been in the profession for a decade. He noted that even before he graduated from Iona High School, he already had a tattooing kit - a Christmas gift from his mother. He started practising on himself, or anyone who was willing to give their body as his muse, in efforts of perfecting his craft. Cummings, who goes by the moniker Wiz Ink, got his first tattoo in 2011, while he was in ninth grade.

"I love the art and I was always fascinated with tattoos. I was doing tattoos before I even left high school and I practised on myself and I think it was just a spontaneous thing to get the tattoo. The world is changing right now, and there are so many avenues to explore. It's not just tattooing but like digital marketing and stuff like that. A lot of time is spent in schools learning things that they are not going to use in this day and age or even in the next five years, so they need to change that," Cummings argued.