Art in school takes on a different meaning when it's actually painted on the walls. Will it have an effect on the pupils' lives? Only time will tell. Zillah Bugeja speaks to James Micallef Grimaud and Selina Scerri, the artists who made it happen at the Gzira boys’ secondary school



It's art history in the making. For the first time in Malta, murals have been painted on the walls of a school. Murals, street art, graffiti, whatever you want to call it, it's all the same thing: an explosion of colour that can be enjoyed by one and all.

So why and how did it happen? An event called Inclusion and Diversity in Education (INDIE) was being organised by the British Council, a project promoting social cohesion and raises educational standards in culturally inclusive schools. With ten per cent of their students from different nationalities, St Clare's College (Antonio Bosio) in Gzira is one of the culturally diverse schools in Malta that is taking part. It happened to be artist James Micallef Grimaud who was asked to paint some panels for this project.

When considering the INDIE proposal, James came to the conclusion that since panels would only have a short life, it would make more sense if he could paint a wall. To his amazement, the headmaster accepted his idea. James pushed his luck a second time, saying that he'd do one wall if he could do another.

The result is two fantastic walls of colour: one wall with the word 'peace' ("the peace piece") and flags in graffiti style, and the other is the basketball wall with a flying bus, balloon, spacemen and the words 'dream on'.

James stresses that the project was a collaboration throughout, with discussions with teachers and even the school children to see what would be most beneficial and appropriate. How did James come up with the theme for the murals?

"I wanted to make the kids wake up, to hype the atmosphere. The school is sombre, like a jail. When I was a kid I would have loved to have had or do anything like this at school."

He contacted Selina Scerri, an old friend and fellow artist, to collaborate on the project. "It's great when people pool in ideas, I'm against pride. Even when painting, we were loose, spontaneous and open." James mentions one schoolboy in particular, Andre, who helped out, even on the weekend.

In his circles, James is a well-known street artist who has left his mark in various countries. James is also the official graffiti artist for Hiphop Malta, which is affiliated with Zulu Nation, an NGO in New York which promotes cultural events related to hip hop and is currently reading for a degree in History of Art at the University of Malta.

The other artist on the murals, Selina Scerri has a BA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and is currently reading for an MA in Performance Creativity at the University of Malta. What were the most memorable and satisfying parts of the Gzira school project for her?

"Firstly, that James took on such a massive project at all, and that he let me do my thing. We worked together on ideas. I wanted to do a conquest of the sky, he wanted to be groovy. As anyone can see, it's a marriage of both ideas.

"Falling off the table and damaging my knee is another thing I won't forget, as I then decided to do all the lower part of the mural, and James had to do the upper part. He's the floaty part, I'm the grounded part. As one can see, one of my favourite signature signs are stars, so there are the most stars in the lower part of the mural.

"Something funny is that we inverted roles. Initially I wanted to do the astronaut and he ended up painting them on a high scaffolding. I did the sporty bit, dancers, sportsmen etc, not to forget that James worked on the other part of the mural such as the flags and the peace sign with the kids."

This was not Selina's first time painting on walls. The first was a commission when she was just 18, at the Marsascala national pool. Then she was asked by Cut Coiffeur to paint angels on their ceiling for shops in St Julian's and Sliema. While studying in London at Central Saint Martins she did several works in restaurants and clubs. She has held several solo exhibitions in Italy and London.

Does Selina think the mural project may have had any kind of positive effect on the school?

"The students were exposed to seeing a great and cool project in process. They witnessed a team working together and slowly developing something magnificent. They learnt that it takes time, that you have to work step by step, and also witnessed people who took each other's suggestions on board, who worked together in harmony without cancelling each other out.

"They witnessed the magic of working over time, even over the weekend. And most important of all, they learned that being an artist is not just something fancy, it also means you can provide a service to society. The only comments I had were from the students: they absolutely loved it."

Would she do it again, and is there anything she would do differently?

"I would do it again yes, but only if there was good funding. A project like that requires time, effort and materials. Had the school prepared the surface of the wall, or at least we had the funding to prepare the wall for such a treatment, it would have been better. But I guess nobody imagined we were going to do such an amazing job."

When approached with the proposal of murals, the headmaster Alfred Grixti didn’t hesitate. "I had no second thoughts, why would I? I know that there is some discussion over whether graffiti is a form of protest or art, for me it's both. Once again, I'd like to thank James, Selina, JP, Matt, Charmaine and my art teacher Frans Gauci. The walls are super, the children love them and they loved doing it. It was good for the children and they have asked to do it again. Above all the murals and the entire INDIE project have greatly improved the school's ethos and character.

"We were very lucky to have been picked for the INDIE project. The second wall was painted with Commonwealth flags because we synergized the activity of the INDIE project with another prestigious event: on 7 December we welcomed the queen's baton for the Commonwealth Games.

"We are proud of the paintings. I am sad that we won't be able to take them with us when the school is relocated in a few years' time, but it will be all the more of an excuse to do it all over. I think other schools should take up the idea. In fact I have been told that the Minister might drop in any day to see our pictures."