‘Let us paint our town’ is the slogan that converted the graffiti-filled walls of this Union enclave into vibrant paintings within a short span of two weeks. The compound walls of all the public places of Yanam town are now turned into beautiful paintings, as hundreds of enthusiastic artists have converted them into beautiful sceneries. They have not just painted fruits and flowers, but also depicted paintings of social interests such as the importance of literacy, need to stay away from bad habits and fight against evils like terrorism.
The town with a population of 55,000 has 15 professional artists, who thought of launching a beautification drive by way of painting the walls. Evincing keen interest on the project, local MLA Malladi Krishna Rao roped in the government and non-government organisations into the project, finding a solution to the want of funds. The Public Works Department has come forward to distribute the paints required for the project.
A wall painting competition was conducted in the first phase on December 23, in which 80 professional artists from different parts of Andhra Pradesh and 300 art students actively participated. At the end of the day, they made 181 paintings on the walls. Cash prizes were presented to the winners and the participants as well. The success of the first phase has encouraged the organisers to extend the programme further and launch the second round on January 4, in which 122 professionals and 150 students joined hands to bring out 300 paintings to the town.
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“With these two rounds, almost all the walls of the public places have been converted into paintings. Still, we are getting responses from several art colleges, which are keen on sending their students to the competition,” Mummidi Sri Veera Naga Prasad, an artist and convener of the competitions has told
Now, the idea is to convince the residents to accord permission to the artists to paint their walls. “The residents can choose the picture to be painted on their compound wall from the catalogue. We have the painting material and the artists readily available. Once we got permission from the residents, we will conduct the competitions in a phased manner,” explains Mr. Prasad.
“The wall paint competition is a great opportunity for us. There is a scope to learn the techniques from the seniors. At the end of the day, we have the satisfaction of doing something for our own town,” says Ketha Raghuchandra, a student of Regency Junior College.
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The compound walls of all the public places of Yanam are now turned into beautiful paintings, as hundreds of enthusiastic artists have converted them into beautiful sceneries