Earlier this year Abovegroup Ogilvy coordinated a program with Wendell McShine, Coconut Growers Association (CGA) and the art students of Success Laventille Secondary School called Art Connect. The program involved McShine teaching the students various levels of visual artistic expression, allowing them to explore their talents through workshops and by engaging in a series of visual installations around the community.
To date, the most visually engaging aspect is the mural painted on the CGA wall along the Eastern Main Road. In addition to sponsoring the project, CGA also donated a substantial section of their front wall to be used as a canvas, thus allowing McShine and students from the school to embark on the creation of a public art installation. The installation is a collaboration of their individual paintings that fluidly transition into each other, expressing a narrative through organic shapes and vivid color.
In addition to capturing various aspects of the creative process from its inception, the entire Art Connect project was thoroughly documented by film director Miquel Galofré and made into a film ‘Art Connect in Laventille’. The film, soon to be released, is an in-depth exploration into the Art Connect project, highlighting the unique experiences and the impact the inspirational project had on individual students. Take a look at the latest trailer for the film.
We also created portraits of the students in their exuberance, producing their own public signatures for the live audience of pedestrians and commuters of mid day traffic.
Garvin Mortley and Akiler Holder
Anna Campbell and Ateion Jones
Maliq Noel and Sherise Jones
Isis Gerry and Salif Calliste
Posted in ArtCommunity OutreachPhotographyVideo on 30th Nov 2011
Has anyone noticed the extension of ArtConnect’s mural on the Eastern Main Road yet? If not well make sure to check the bold mural splashed on the walls of the Coconut Growers Association (CGA) along the Eastern Main Road.
It is a distinctive mural; filled with radiant colors shaped into figures, patterns, and abstract designs; are stories told through art by local children that reside in the surrounding area.
Twelve students from Success Laventille Secondary School (SLSS) took part in one of Wendell McShine’s Art Connect dynamic community projects. The visual artist and animator guided the students through a hands-on learning experience designed to provide them with contemporary art skills and knowledge of urban and community art. Simultaneously, the mural project offered the students an opportunity to express their inner voice and talents. Together, they all embarked on series of workshops to create a mural with the intent to establish an ongoing visual dialogue between the walls and the residents of Laventille.
If they had known that they would be toiling in the scorching sun for hours whilst painting the walls along the Eastern Main Road, they probably would have thought twice about partaking in this project. But never did they imagine the exhilaration of having their artistry displayed in a public masterpiece on one of T&T’s busiest roads.
A student’s mother gushes, “Every time I pass the wall I tell everybody in the maxi, ‘my son painted this!’”
The entire initiative was funded by the CGA and coordinated by Abovegroup Ogilvy. After forming a close relationship with SLSS and the artist Shine, the mural programme was launched with the aim to foster creative positive change within the local community.
Murals bring art into a community to be enjoyed by residents and passers-by. Apart from the aesthetic improvements, murals often enhance a stronger sense of pride and respect within the community, contributing to the overall well-being of the inhabitants. So the next time you pass the CGA wall, take a gander. It should brighten your day.
If you have been passing on the Eastern Main Road on your daily commute, and been wondering what in the world is that huge abstract painting on the wall of CGA, opposite Success Laventille Secondary School, never fear, it’s not the vandals.
The large piece was done by Trinidad born artist Wendell McShine as a part of his Art Connect initiative, co-ordinated by Abovegroup Ogilvy.
Art Connect is an urban art project, where the students of Success Laventille Secondary School, together with McShine embark on a series of dynamic highly creative community murals in an on going visual dialogue on the walls of Laventille donated by Coconut Growers Association (CGA).
I went out with Mc Shine this week to capture the process of creating this stunning mural. It is the first of many pieces to be done on that space in the coming weeks.
Posted in ArtCommunity Outreach on 16th Jun 2011
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Show & Tell is a monthly event hosted by Abovegroup Ogilvy in our studio. Speakers come from a range of backgrounds and interests. Admission is free and the atmosphere is easy.
Garvin Mortley and Akiler Holder
Anna Campbell and Ateion Jones
Maliq Noel and Sherise Jones
Isis Gerry and Salif Calliste
