Murals add colour and positivity to Kingstown and Arnos Vale areas

If you have travelled into Kingstown along the Richmond Hill road you may have seen a pop of colour on the wall at the Girls’ High School (GHS) bus stop and also on the other side of town, features of Vincy carnival and culture adorn the wall outside Victoria Park.

THE MURAL on the wall of the tennis court at Richmond Hill. Photo: Marlo Benn

The artwork is part of the series in the 15-mural project mounted by visual artist and teacher Shanique Stewart with the most recent being the mural installed at the end of tarmac at the decommissioned E.T Joshua Airport in Arnos Vale.

Stewart and her team, most of whom are students ranging from primary to College, braved the heat and rain during the summer to complete the murals. She said they are on a mission to not only improve the country’s artistic footprint but also to engage social art that has a positive message.

She explained to SEARCHLIGHT that the mural at GHS bus stop as well as the one on the tarmac serves the purpose of mental health “check-in”.

“… A lot of people aren’t really able to express how they truly feel for several different reasons, so I thought I should tap into that.”

Photo: Marlo Benn

Stewart went onto explain that the murals feature zombies, human-eating plants and other “unusual characters” which signify the depth of human emotions including self-defeating beliefs and negative thoughts.

“The zombies are right below and I purposely put them below because they are closer to hell. When we are down … we can be referred to as zombies meaning we eat our brain out with negative thoughts.

Running through the centre of the mural is a question “how r u” which Stewart said she hopes those that view the artwork take the query to heart.

“Sometimes when you ask persons, they say they are fine but you know they are not really.”

She added she wants people to see the value in having a positive outlook and not letting the negative comments from others overcome them.

“As much as people would do things to harm you, it is about how you view yourself and handle the situation.”

Stewart and her team have completed nine out of the 15 murals in the series but she believes that they have only scratched the surface of creating a national visual art movement in SVG, adding that the sector is still very much in its “infancy”.

“We are still at the stage where murals are a big thing and art has moved past that years ago. There should be a strong community behind artists that want to create social change. There is a mindset that there is not much value in the art form.”

She said with little support from the business community, coupled with the fact that art as a career is not often promoted to students in SVG, the visual arts sector has not advanced much in recent years.

She called on the public to support the movement and the work being done by the young artists.

“If you support them they are going to feel better and want to do it more. The more kids that we can have doing something positive or game changing it is the better for our country.”