VAF x CRAC – RETOUR À L’ÉCOLE

The 8th edition of the Vision Art Festival was a very special one. Retour a l’école – back to school- for everyone. Thanks to the regional animation and cultural committee and the school board we were able to introduce street art into the world of education, a first in Switzerland at least.

Why first, because we didn’t just paint with school kids, for a timespan of 6 weeks students had several afternoons of graffiti class during school hours.  Every one of our 7 school centers had an invited artist who would create an art piece with all present students.

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VAF X CRAC – RETOUR À L’ÉCOLE X CEDRIC MABILLARD | MONTANA-VILLAGE

Local graffiti legend Kesa was the last one to start his urban art experience with the students. He decided to make the student concentrate on how to handle a spray can, how to handle it, how to hold it and how to create basic pieces. His idea was to let the students each have a piece of the wall and at the end he would connect the dots and the see how it looks.

The result is a place of great creativity with a basic outline to hold all these colospots together. And create a single art piece.


VAF X CRAC – RETOUR À L’ÉCOLE X PHILIPPE BAUDELOCQUE | FLANTHEY | 2022

Baudelocques obsession with the universe and parallel universes can be seen in his artworks and that is what he wanted to transmit to the students. He made the students observe the sky, discuss what they feel and then start making them paint.

The biggest challenge for him was to make the students understand the difference on scale and angle if you paint on a wall compared to a sheet of paper. After a half day of getting used to the differences the children where allowed on the wall, where Baudelocque had already sketched a piece and the students had to complete the artwork with their imagination. It was also new for them that you can do street art not only with cans, but also with crayons.


VAF X CRAC – RETOUR À L’ÉCOLE X CRBZ | MARTELLES

Lausanne born calligraphy artist CRBZ had a difficult task to create a wall and integrate every single student, however the youngest at his school was 5 and the oldest 16, so how to give everybody the same importance? CRBZ decided to look at his wall piece in layers and assign the different ages to the layers, protection, background, outlines, fill out. His mission was to have all 104 students write their name in calligraphy, but there was a little problem. How do children who are learning the write going to learn a calligraphy alphabet? The solution was that the younger ones had to choose an older student who will then write his name on a wall, in counterpart the younger student had more possibilities to express himself with colors.

The result is amazing a wall that looks like painted by the artist himself.


VAF X CRAC – RETOUR À L’ÉCOLE X GUILLEN | PAVILLON GENEVOIS | 2022

Spanish artist Guillen who is living in Crans-Montana had a difficult task, create a nice professional looking wall piece only with primary school children. But who could he achieve it? The students are to small to handle a can, and we know how clean a 4/5 year works once he has paint on site.

But Guillen had an idea, let them create the whole wall by themselves, students were given the task to create shapes- circles, squares, triangles,…- in 3d material. Guillen then used these forms as stencils to paint outlines and the students filled them out.

The shapes were the first step of the wall, the second was even more fun for the kids.

Let the creativity begin, Guillen drew a snake and each children had a scale to fill out with a drawing that was straight from his imagination.


VAF X CRAC – RETOUR À L’ÉCOLE X ROSALIND MONKS | LENS | 2022

In Lens Rosalind first sent her students to the woods to learn to observe their environment and to detect patterns in their day-to-day life.  Back in the classroom the students had to create different patterns they had seen.

The second step was to choose from different wildlife animals in the surroundings as a vehicle for these patterns.

Rosalind then created the outlines of this enchanted forest and the children had then to fill out the animals with their own patterns.


VAF X CRAC – RETOUR À L’ÉCOLE X FLEUR BLUME | RANDOGNE – MOLLENS | 2022

Having smaller children in her attributed school French artist Fleur Blume had the task to teach her “assistants “how to do stencils. In a three-step system the students learned how to create their stencils and use them. After the first steps on small papers and with pencils in the class, came the big days and the work on their walls.

The outside stairway is now a wonderful homage to the birds flying around the school.


VAF X CRAC – RETOUR À L’ÉCOLE X TONES ONE | CYCLE D’ORIENTATION CRANS MONTANA | 2022

Geneva based graffiti legend Tones One introduced the older students to the world of tags. After presenting himself and his history to the students they directly got an introduction to the world of graffiti and had to create their new artist’s name. Once done they started to develop their own tag under the supervision of Tones.

In close collaboration with the students, it was decided that he would create a giant sneaker and the students could all put their new tag on the big shoe.

Hence the CO was our graffiti hotspot