The Course

Course Overview

Patricio Forester and student
Lionel Stanhope and student
Gary Drostle and students

We run a three hour session twice a week. 

On Wednesday evening (6 - 9 pm) we talk and on Saturday (10 - 1pm) we make.

Term 1: Focusing on the thinking behind the creation of a mural (scouting for walls, analysing context and participation processes, design development, photoshop skills, evaluation) as well as sharpening up observational drawing skills, painting and scaling up.

Term 2: Carrying out a participation process (from idea to design), fundraising, writing risk assessments, proposal development and pitch, building towers, painting a mural, evaluation.

1. Overview

  • Intro to Muralism – Public Art

  • Timeline of the course, what to expect

  • Skeleton of a project start to finish

  • Funding/How projects can be paid for

  • Project management (Gantt chart/other tools for project management/keeping on schedule)

2. Working with the public (and getting their support)

  • Artistic responsibility – being part of a team

  • Community engagement methodologies

  • The law, the council, bureaucracy, permissions

  • The Politics of ownership – copyright and copyleft

  • Authorship in participatory processes Public funding, pitching, gathering support

  • Who is the audience? Who is the participant?

  • Stakeholders

3. Creating Through Consensus (participatory process)

  • The Politics of Public Art: A balancing act

  • Ideas/themes for community engagement

  • Can Art be truly democratic

  • Designing by committee

  • Tilting the balance

4. Turning ideas into Artwork

  • Design development – dynamic playful processes

  • Using Photoshop – crash course

  • Collage – paper photoshop

  • Balancing time available with amount of detail

5. Urban Cultural Development

  • The Build Environment – potential for change

  • Logic of a Space – situations and changing perceptions

6. Making it happen

  • Budgets

  • Timelines

  • Equipment and material provision (how to plan/estimate quantities)

  • Health + Safety (incl. safeguarding)

  • Who you need on your side

7. Painting a Mural – on site skills

  • Scaling up the work, bringing the design and wall together

  • Building a the Scaffolding Tower

  • Defining Areas

  • Handling volunteers – pitching to their level of ability

  • Resting times and pushing forwards

  • Assessing and recognising when something is not working

  • When to leave it

  • Varnishing and Anti- graffiti