Mural Chronology

Before Pictures:

Today we finished the mural! Hoorah and hooray for it has been quite a tedious process. To give you a sense of how this mural came about over the last couple of months, let me explain from the beginning.

I came to Huntersvlei Primary with the intention of doing a mural, based on discussions with the organization. Unfortunately, upon arrival, I found out that the school is going to be demolished and the student population will be relocated to a new school in a developing local township, Phahameng, next year. The principal was happy for me to do a mural onsite, but to me there is no point to doing a semi-permanent mural only to have it bulldozed. So we investigated the new site and realized the existing creche (nursery), next to the new school's grounds, would be a perfect place for the painting. The creche already houses 100 First, 2nd, and 3rd graders in addition to 30 some little ones.

The problem with the creche site in Phahameng is that it's about an 8k drive from the current school and so it really limited the involvement of all children from the very beginning. You might ask why I went ahead with the mural with such circumstances under foot? But the school children knew my mural intentions before I'd even met them and the paint was heavy in my trunk. Not ideal in the least, but I did the best I could to involve as many of the 350 students as I could.

For content, I began working with Grades 4-7 on dream drawings, using the book "Where the Wild Things Are" as a springboard. Translation is a big issue in this school, where the classes are too large for students to really get one on one attention with their English studies. I didn't always have another teacher in the class with me to help explain things, so I did get some funny "dream" drawings. Some were of South African flags and other material that probably didn't stream from their subconsciouses. Many of the students drew pictures of rain and there were some unusual ones of birthday cake, guys running from snakes and silly looking ostriches.



From these 150+ drawings, I assembled a group of 10 students. We pasted the drawings on the blackboard and then I told the group to pull down a few images that they found interest in. From these drawings, they redrew different aspects and together we assembled these drawn collages into a linear design. From there, we went to the site.


I could only legally fit 4 students in my car and therefore could only take that many to Phahameng with me at a time. Over about 6 weeks, 2 days a week, I took different groups of students from Huntersvlei to the mural. Some days the principal was able to bring even more in his truck. We primed the low wall in front of the school, drew the outline of the mural, painted the background and then the foreground.


On a separate occassion, I worked with students in Grades 1, 2 & 3 at Huntersvlei to draw fencepost designs. The idea was that the students at the Phahemeng site would then use those drawings as a blueprint to copy onto the actual fence. Beautiful idea in theory, involving about 200 students, but in actuality a bit more tricky! Each time I went to work on the fence, I brought some of the older students from Huntersvlei to assist me with the students as younguns' English is non-existant. It was totally chaotic each and every time. Gathering control of the group was a loss, and not many students actually "copied" the designs, but in the end it really looks fabulous.


I don't know if the pictures can even convey what a spectrum of color this sheds onto the pock-marked dirt roads and water holes outside of the gates. The township is certainly not without character, but it is poor and most of the government housing and self-made tin shacks lack color and shine. The stench of the outhouses permeates the streets on hot, windy days and the litter is devasting, blowing out of the open dump next to the school.


I have a handle on pedagogy, as much as a person could without a degree or lifetime in education. While I wasn't able to involve the adult community, I hope that the participation of the students enables the community to feel some part in the project. I hope that the mural remains, that it is respected and that it will continue to be a source of pride for those who directly worked on it. Personally, I am proud and felt good walking away today and leaving this as a source of color and pleasure for those living and studying in the area. Crossing my fingers the rust holds off!