ART ALS MURS
“Art als murs: improvement of public space through the community” is a social and educational project for young people between the ages of 13 and 22, financed mainly by Obra social La Caixa in 2017-18.
The creation and formation of this group responds to the urgent need for community actions in the city of Hospitalet with a very degraded public space. These actions not only recover deteriorated urban spaces, but also establish links between local entities or groups and young people interested in art.
The project consists of 3 phases: training, empowerment and continuity that were carried out continuously for nine months between 2017 and 2018.
The target group of the project was form by young people from the city registered voluntarily and at no economic cost for them. The weekly sessions lasted two hours for theory or design sessions and up to 4 hours for execution and painting.
The most theoretical sessions were held in the winter months (October-January) and the practical sessions between February and June. The co-design sessions were constant throughout the project and alternated with the execution of the youth proposals.
Objectives and considerations
– Creation of a group of young people from the city interested in art, graffiti and the community.
– Establish an interesting and complete educational program that will train and train them to undertake their own projects in the future.
– Make a continuous evaluation of the results and experiences of the group and interviews at the beginning and at the end of the project to assess its evolution.
– Carry out a follow-up for the next 24 months after the participants’ project is finished to see how many of them have continued with their artistic practice.
– Link this group to active projects of the foundation as well as new projects so that they are related to other groups.
Theory and introduction
These theory sessions were the first that we carried out interspersed with practical introductory sessions so that they developed interest and skill in the technique. The sessions were led by a leading educator from our team and teachers who taught different techniques such as graffiti lettering, characters, collage, etc. In total 4 “external” teachers passed throughout the course.
We also carried out tours and guided visits to interventions carried out in the city for the participants and covered the history and theory of the evolution of graffiti and urban art as part of the program as well as viewing especially relevant documentary material.
Design sessions
Once the participants had a theoretical base of the movement and some basic technique they began to get involved in co-design processes of some community projects in the city that the foundation was carrying out. The project became a support space to train young people to help us design and streamline interventions as part of their training.
In these sessions the participants had to design the intervention under some premise dictated by the project: theme, dimensions, participants, etc. This design was made after a group reflection and brainstorming followed by a debate to present the proposals.
Execution of the designs
Once the proposal was designed, it was time to execute the intervention. We did extra hours and weekends to have more time. In total, a dozen interventions were designed and carried out in Hospitalet and surroundings as they work was done with other young people, educational centers and professional artists.
It is in this third phase with the confidence generated in the previous sessions where they achieved the knowledge and ability to carry out their own projects in the future.
Continuity: A year later
There is no better way to explain the benefits of the program than the follow-up done to the young people and the opportunities generated. One year after completing the project, we had the opportunity to create a small mural outside the new youth space in the city. We decided that the best we can do is refer this work to the young people of the program so that they accompany the other young users of the space in the design and elaboration of the project. The foundation carried out the support and documentation of the proposal that was designed and executed 100% by the participants of the project and the youth of the town.
With the vocation of giving continuity to the training project and integrate these young people into the activities of the Foundation, the 3 participants over 18 years old participated in the YOUTHPOWER exchange program and traveled to Gothenburg in July 2019 with other young people from L’Hospitalet.
More than 70% of the participants are currently pursuing higher art studies and the other 30% will be able to do well after high school. The effectiveness of the project has been demonstrated and the relationship with the majority of the participants and the foundation is still maintained.
