Han Sung Motor, an official dealer of Mercedes-Benz Korea, said Monday that it will hold an exhibition to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its art scholarship program Dream Gream. 

Titled “A dream of 10 years,” the exhibition looks into Han Sung Motor’s operation of the scholarship program over the past decade, showcasing artworks by current artists as well as mentors and mentees of the Dream Gream program. 

Since 2012, Han Sung Motor has offered support to selected middle and high school students with artistic talents along with Korea Mecenat Association. Until now, 40 Dream Gream scholarship students have been matched to Dream Gream ambassadors, which comprises Han Sung Motor’s executives and employees.

Their artworks have been presented in various ways from painting to media art, graffiti, engraving, illustration and lenticulars. Some of them have been presented at art fairs including the Korea International Art Fair, according to Han Sung Motor. 

“Among the annual year-end Dream Gream exhibition, this year’s exhibition is organized richer and more colorful in celebration of its 10th anniversary. Dream Gream will be operated in a continuous, enterprise-wide manner to provide scholarship students with high-quality art education and various experiences and to foster their artistic and social knowledge,” said Ulf Ausprung, CEO of Han Sung Motor. 

He added that it was meaningful to see students finding their dreams through the arts scholarship program.

“We could witness students taking a step closer to their dreams such as entering art majors and even returning to the program as mentors. Without Han Sung Motor’s dedication to art education and enthusiastic support from everyone related to the Dream Gream program, we probably couldn’t run the program for such a long period of 10 years,” he told The Korea Herald.

Artime Joe, who participated in the Dream Gream program in 2014 and 2015 as an artist mentor with his expertise in graffiti art, said he enjoyed the time with the students and that the experience has become another source of motivation for him to continue his career.

“I felt really proud after hearing that a student who has worked with me (at Dream Gream program) have been accepted to the arts college. I remember that she really enjoyed doing graffiti and came to visit me several times even after the project to learn more about graffiti,” he said.

“I want to continue to attribute my time and talents through this kind of program, so I can share more things with others,” he added. 

Kim So-won, 18, who has joined the program since 2017, said she was one of the beneficiaries of the Dream Gream program. Thanks to the help she received, she has been accepted to the arts college.

“It was really helpful to learn about designing game graphics through this program. I learned which tools to use and how to make game graphics and based on that, I chose my major, submitted my application to the university and got an acceptance,” Kim said. 

“This program gave me happiness, a sense of stability and every support and encouragement meant a lot to me. I feel really thankful even though preparing to go university was a hard time,” she said. 

The Dream Gream exhibition takes place on the second floor of the Seoul Calligraphy Museum at the Seoul Arts Center and runs until Dec. 19.