By Frederick Philander REHOBOTH Public interest in and attendance at the only rural town-based art gallery in Rehoboth since its inception last year, have improved substantially. This is the view of the director of the Rehoboth School of Arts and a de facto visual artist, Andrew van Wyk who will be exhibiting in Germany later this year. “Of course, we can do with more local people attending, as well rural artists bringing their works here to be exhibited. We currently have a student art exhibition and are planning one on the creative works produced by the Dune Tannery at Duineveld,” said Andrew van Wyk this week. The man, who has been running the rural institution for more than ten years, has big plans to transform it into an arts college. “I do not think it a far-fetched idea to set up such a college here. The need and the will are there, as well as the support of the community. We must just find ways to set up such a college. This will be my ultimate dream come true for rural arts development in our country,” the artist said optimistically. He sees such a college operating as an autonomous body and not one attached to the College of the Arts as some sort of a satellite. “Presently, the Rehoboth School of Arts doesn’t function the way I envisaged it when I started it, due to too many stifling factors. I feel we are being kept hostage with everything we do here – a bad idea for free and spontaneous creative thought development. As long as the present situation exists, rural art will continue to suffer,” the director said. The Rehoboth School of Arts is currently registering art students in various genres ranging from visual art to music. “We are presently in need of a pianist to work among the expected 100 students for this year, the tenth anniversary of the art school, an event that will be formally celebrated in September this year.