Murals —The Power of Public Art

　These days,/murals in public places/are becoming popular/all over the world.// Murals are paintings on walls.// You may wonder/why people create them.// Let’s look at some murals around the world/and the stories behind them.//
話題は、トロントのプロジェクト
　In Toronto,/Canada,/there is a project/called “StART.”// The project was launched/to reduce the amount of graffiti/and increase the beauty of the city.// In this project,/citizens can submit designs.// Once the city gives permission,/those people may paint their murals/on places/such as bridges/and the walls of buildings.// In this way,/creative and colorful street art/has replaced graffiti.//
話題は、StARTの効果
　The StART project makes city streets/more beautiful and peaceful.// It also empowers local artists/and encourages people/to walk around the city.//


　There are also public art projects/in Australia.// Some projects are aided/by the government.// One of them took place/in the Bagot community.// Bagot is an area/where Aboriginal people/were once forced to live and work.// The community members/would like to tell their history/through murals.//
　In this project,/local indigenous people/painted murals on houses and fences/with professional artists.// The murals celebrate the indigenous people’s culture/and their personal stories.// With these murals,/young members of Bagot/seem to learn more/about the community’s history/and feel a sense of pride.//
　Today,/the murals are open/to the public.// They can be viewed/through walking tours/or on the Internet.// Taking a closer look at the murals,/viewers can appreciate the life and culture/of the indigenous people.//


　Murals can be seen in Berlin,/Germany,/as well.// They have a unique origin.// They were painted/on the Berlin Wall.//
　The Berlin Wall divided the city/into the West and the East/from 1961 to 1989.// The wall was a symbol/of the Cold War.// In 1989,/a few days after the fall of the wall,/118 artists from 21 countries/started painting murals/on the east side of the wall.// The next year,/1.3 kilometers of the wall/was officially opened/as the East Side Gallery.//
　The artists included their individual messages/and statements/in their murals.// They must have been an expression/of people’s happiness/over the end of the German division.// It seems/that they remind people/of the sad history/of creating a border/inside one country.//


　There are also mural art projects/in Japan.// One of them is the project/in Tennozu Isle,/Tokyo.//
　The reclaimed island/at the edge of Tokyo Bay/has many warehouses.// In the project,/artists painted murals/on the walls/of the warehouses and other large buildings.// The artworks express the integration/of traditional Japanese culture/and modern art/in the waterfront area.// As a result,/Tennozu Isle seems to have turned/into an artistic spot/with murals.//
　As we have seen,/mural art projects are created/from a variety of backgrounds/for different purposes.// One feature in common/is the power of public art.// Murals make communities beautiful,/express their cultures and histories,/and attract people.// Murals are art museums/for everyone.//