the murals was just as tedious as it took the AEP students more than 1
month to refine all the murals painted by the non-art students.
T The journey continued with NYJC adding new murals and touching up
existing ones during its 35th Anniversary. In 2015, NYJC decided to add
another 15 murals to the 35 existing ones, making it a grand total of 50
murals to commemorate Singapore’s 50 years of independence. Our
mural designs captured the quintessence of Singapore - our history,
heritage and culture. We wanted the students to reflect on what it
meant to be a Singaporean and appreciate the uniqueness of our
little red dot. The expansion of the mural project into its current grand
scale would not have been possible without the sponsorship of NTUC
FairPrice, and the support of Braddell Heights GROs, Marine Parade
Town Council and PAssionarts. The sustained working relationship
with these partners had helped to fund and facilitate the execution of
this SG50 mural project.
The entire planning and execution process was very time-
consuming, spanning almost 6 months. From doing site-recce
around the neighbourhood to identify suitable void deck walls,
generating different mural designs and tracing them on the
walls to handling massive logistics requirements, the students
and teachers of the Art Elective Programme (AEP) showed a
tremendous amount of grit and dedication. Following 4 months
of preparation, we mobilised the entire cohort of about 700
JC1 students to different parts of the neighbourhood to paint
all 30 murals in a full-day painting event. The touching up of Looking back, NYJC’s community art legacy has spanned almost a
decade. Our artistic endeavour drew much interest and gratitude
from the residents. Some even offered to buy drinks for the students
as a token of appreciation for their hard work in enhancing the estate.
It created an authentic learning experience for our students as they
laboured to serve the community. For most of them, they re-engaged
with art making, which was probably an activity that they hardly had
a chance to experience in JC. It also made us realise the impact our
living environment can have on cultivating a sense of belonging to a
place and a community. On a personal note, the project has reinforced
my belief that we can do good with Art, and Art should be available
for all.
he journey of Nanyang Junior College’s 50-Mural Project
started in 2007. Back then, our Principal, Mr Kwek Hiok
Chuang, broached this idea of painting 30 murals in the
Braddell Heights estate to celebrate our college’s 30th
Anniversary. He had envisioned it to be a different kind of
celebration through which our college could demonstrate to
the Braddell Heights residents that our students and staff
are a part of the community, and that we too, can be active
contributors to this big family.
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