Students give Community College face lift

Some of the walls of the Villa campus of the SVG Community College have been transformed into beautiful artwork by several first year students of the institution.{{more}}

During the last week of term, students of the Art Department of the Division of Arts, Sciences and General Studies were engaged in several long days of hard work painting three distinctive murals on the walls of the college.

The students and their teacher Vonnie Roudette worked late into the night to complete the murals that had involved three weeks of design development. The first year A-level Art and Design students worked in three groups to develop their ideas from concept to finished paintings that range from 15- 26 ft in length.

The aim of the mural painting project presented to the students was to transform an area of the institution from one laden with negative graffiti into one that exudes positive messages to the youngsters. The young artists also aimed to improve the understanding among their college peers of the social significance of creative expression and the value of arts in the society.

The art students adopted different themes – Fantasy, Nature and Music- for each mural, with the central message that freedom of expression and an appreciation of indigenous culture are essential to our wellbeing. The Nature mural, surrealist in style sends the message of the importance of caring for the environment, as a figure is seen holding up the islands of SVG whilst mother nature looks on. The Fantasy painting uses symbolism to depict the firey breath of a dragon igniting all areas of subjects studied at the college, and many symbols relevant to college life and the local environment. The central theme of the expressive music painting entitled ‘Feel de Vibz’ is the importance

of musical rhythms to our culture.

Staff and administration of the College have expressed their appreciation of the transformation of the area from being dark and ominous, into an attractive one that provides an educational and uplifting experience.

“I am utterly thrilled at the dedication all the students have shown, their cooperation in teams has been outstanding and once again I am heartened by what our young people are capable of if given the encouragement and support. They have improved their organizational and design skills, learned the fulfillment of teamwork with a positive attitude, and I will encourage them to continue keep working together and with graduates of the art program to transform our environment- there are many more areas in college and in our communities that could benefit enormously from original art work,” Art Lecturer Vonnie Roudette said.

The art students and graduates of the Community art program (CYAM) discuss their creative experiences and other topics relating to creativity in society on their weekly radio program, The Art Room, 2 pm every Saturday on NBC Radio.