Art & education has the capacity to change the world
Welcome to the World of Moloi
Welcome Thabo Moloi is a multidisciplinary artist, researcher and arts education specialist with a background in art design, art history, and arts-based learning education, shaped through his studies at Tshwane University of Technology (B.Tech) and North West University (M.Ed). His artistic practice is driven by a purpose to raise awareness, heal trauma, tell reflective stories and document lived realities. Academically, he focuses on art-based learning methods as a tool for self-discovery, self-expression, skills development, and community upliftment. As an art educator, Moloi has supported artisan initiatives, merging traditional practices with contemporary approaches. His work embodies a commitment to innovation and meaningful learning in today’s world. As Nina Simone once said, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.”
Latest News
Career Guidance Through Project-Based Learning: Fostering Our Youth’s Futures
AfrAA Webinar: Zoom Platform
Webinar Date: 6 December 2025
Time: 15:00 (South African Time)
Meeting ID: 853 650 2017
Passcode: 028750
Join us for a focused and insightful webinar exploring how project-based learning (PBL) can strengthen career guidance for Senior Phase learners. As the world of work changes, PBL offers practical, hands-on experiences that help young people discover their interests, build essential skills, and plan for their futures.
What You Will Gain:
Clear strategies for using PBL in career guidance
Practical examples of PBL activities for Senior Phase learners
Insight into preparing youth for future careers and workplace demands
This session is ideal for educators, parents, school leaders, and anyone invested in supporting youth development.
Welcome Thabo Moloi Exhibiting at La Motte Ateljee – “Rose’d” Group Exhibition
We are thrilled to announce that Welcome Moloi will be showcasing his latest work, We Want to Flourish, at the La Motte Ateljee as part of the upcoming group exhibition titled Rose’d.
The exhibition will run from 18 October 2025 to 22 February 2026 and promises to be a vibrant celebration of creativity and artistic dialogue.
If you are in the Franschhoek, Western Cape area, we warmly invite you to visit La Motte to experience this inspiring exhibition in person. Otherwise, you can follow the journey and highlights of Rose’d through La Motte’s official social media platforms.
Join us in celebrating this exciting milestone and Moloi’s vision of flourishing through art.
Unexpected Territories | 38th InSEA World Congress
July 21-25, 2025 | Virtual | Olomouc, Czech Republic
Welcome Moloi’s poster, Exploring Intermedial Territories: Fostering Futures for the Youth in South Africa through Playful Project-based Learning, will be showcased under Unexpected Territories at the 38th InSEA World Congress. The work examines themes of self-awareness, the recognition of individual potential, and the cultivation of a future-oriented mindset.
Abstract:
Fostering Futures emphasises the challenges faced by senior-phase learners in South African high schools in making career decisions and navigating societal pressures through innovative approaches. As a Creative Arts teacher at a North-West Province High School, Welcome Moloi find himself on various territories as he navigates his professional development within Art Education. Recognising the school learners’ need for guidance towards future employment opportunities that contribute to self-efficacy and community well-being, he helps learners to see themselves as contributors to societal and civic growth. Working in interdisciplinary ways, arts education is linked with career guidance, highlighting the interconnectedness of art with identity, social well-being, and potential economic opportunities. In the Creative Arts class, playful, project-based learning (PPrBL) is applied whereby various media and creative practices are blended. This approach encourages learners to explore their vocational potential through diverse forms of artistic expression, such as body mapping and collages, preparing learners to think introspectively and innovatively. These PPrBL activities help them develop critical skills, self-awareness, recognition of their unique capabilities, and a future-oriented mindset, bridging gaps in various life territories – education, personal development, and the workplace. The study proposes arts-based strategies to transform career education into a holistic, asset-based framework that equips learners with the set of skills necessary to face complex societal challenges while envisioning dignified futures.
New Work
See more works in the gallery.
A Territory of Hope | Mixed Media | 2025
This artwork is a visual interpretation of a research project centered on fostering futures, inspired by a study that examined the challenges Senior Phase learners in South African high schools’ face when making career decisions and navigating societal pressures. The study employed innovative, arts-based approaches to broaden learners’ perceptions and inspire new possibilities.
The composition reflects the transformed vision of the participating learners, symbolising hope, resilience, and the possibility for a meaningful future. At the centre stands the neutral outline of a human figure, its form filled with written titles of various careers, an embodiment of the exposure these learners gained to diverse professional pathways through the project.
On the far left, a graduate figure is illuminated by a beam of light, representing optimism, achievement, and the promise of a more empowered future shaped by art-based learning. On the far right, a figure dressed in formal attire represents professionalism, ambition, and success, further reinforcing the narrative of possibility.
For the viewer encountering this work without prior knowledge of its background, the interaction of its symbolic elements prompts curiosity. The combination of the figures, the light, and the text invites deeper engagement, compelling the audience to investigate the meaning behind the visual and the story of transformation it conveys.
Isabela
MIXED MEDIUM ON PAPER
2025
When we were young, we were blessed with innocence. The older we get, the more we lose our innocence.
Thandaza
MIXED MEDIUM ON PAPER
2024
This artwork illustrates a young lady called Thandanza. Her story narrates resilience and faith.
The Call It Success
PENCIL ON PAPER
2024
The education system teaches us that success is essential.
Pencil & charcoal on paper
Maria: Guider of Hope
This artwork celebrates the profound role of a dedicated caregiver – a teacher – who serves as both a nurturer and a guide to learners. The composition positions the teacher prominently in the bottom-right corner, occupying nearly half of the visual space. This placement establishes her as the foundation and focal point of the piece, with the surrounding elements serving as a narrative backdrop that underscores her purpose and influence.
The symbolism in the artwork draws parallels with the biblical figure of Maria (Mary), the mother of Jesus. Just as Maria was entrusted with raising and guiding the Savior from infancy, this teacher embodies the virtues of strength, resilience, and wisdom in nurturing her students. As depicted in scripture, Maria’s leadership laid the foundation for a divine mission, a parallel echoed in the teacher’s role as a leader and shaper of young minds. The teacher in this artwork is not only a provider of knowledge but also a spiritual mentor, inspired by the Holy Spirit to instil both academic content and divine truth, aligning with the sentiment expressed by Welcome Thabo Moloi: “Teaching academic content without the truth is meaningless, and often destructive.”
In this depiction, the teacher, like Maria, becomes a shepherd leading her students toward a brighter future. The students are symbolised by lampshades, representing hope. Their brightness is dependent on the guidance they receive, emphasising the importance of strong, moral leadership. However, the artwork acknowledges that not all who are placed as guides fulfil their roles effectively. Maria, the teacher portrayed, derives her strength and wisdom from God, symbolised by the cross atop the highest mountain in the composition. The partly cloudy sky further conveys a sense of divine presence and the holiness that informs her mission as the “Guider of Hope.”
This intricate portrayal positions Maria as a beacon of light and a vessel of God’s will, entrusted with shaping the next generation to illuminate a path toward a brighter, more hopeful world.