Taller a l’escola MDP — a school urban art workshop in Barcelona
Barcelona
13.10.2015
This October we kicked off with a big urban art workshop at Mare del Diví Pastor school: a huge playground, lots of students, and lots of enthusiasm for adding colour to the yard.
We started with classroom work, talking about art in the street, the responsibility that comes with taking action there, and just how powerful a tool art is for making our city better. We also went over the history of graffiti and urban art and its most important references, with the help of urban artist Aram’rah. We then worked with the students on ideas and sketches to illustrate the playground walls. Artists Once, Jalón de Aquiles and Aram’rah put the finishing touches on the playground design using the students’ ideas and sketches, and we began the countdown to pick up brushes and spray cans. The youngest children started adding colour to the walls with the help of brushes and paintbrushes, and finally the secondary school students picked up the spray cans.
Everyone, as far as they were able, got to take part in transforming the school playground, and every time they go out to play they’ll remember the strength we have when we do things together, with enthusiasm and everyone’s collaboration!
In the video, a report on the urban art workshop at the school: more than 300 pairs of hands painting the playground from a design by the Year 10 students. Rebobinart explains what it teaches them: «when we act in public space we have a responsibility, it is a shared space; sometimes you can't paint what you would like to».
The video in text (abridged) (translated from Catalan)2 min 12 s
The reportFor one day these children have become urban art painters: the goal is for all the school's pupils to paint the playground together. More than 300 pairs of hands will take part in this educational project, run jointly with Rebobinart, an association that works to explain the evolution of street painting.
RebobinartThere is the more artistic side, which is what we try to foster; and above all explaining to them that when we act in public space we have a responsibility: it is a shared space. Sometimes you can't paint what you would like to: you have to talk to the neighbours and see which work fits best in that space.
The reportThe design came from the oldest pupils, those in Year 10: each of them drew how they wanted the playground to look and a team of urban artists took on the job of blending all the ideas.
The schoolIt is an enriching experience that gives pupils several things. First, direct contact with the outdoors, with something that really catches their attention such as street art. And above all the creative side: each of them can contribute a little piece of what they have inside and then see it made real in the playground.
The childrenI got really excited, because I love painting. I'm learning how to use the brush, painting upwards and upwards.
I'm having a good time because we are painting our hands and because we are having fun painting the wall. And it is the first time I have painted a wall with this brush.
The reportAt Rebobinart they carry on launching artistic projects of all kinds —workshops, social awareness actions and exhibitions— to foster a passion for urban art done well.
Video by Barcelona.cat. Abridged version: direct quotes are kept; repetitions, overlapping speech and passages unrelated to the project are left out.
