participative murals : organization and budget

What is a participatory murals ?

A participatory work involves participants who are not murals professionals. This can take different forms:

• Choice of artist or work by vote ;
• Organization ofworkshops to create the sketch in a participatory manner;
• Painting murals during ateam building event;
• Organization of interactions between the public and the murals via a QR code...

Why make a participatory murals ?

Participatory or collaborative murals can have many positive impacts:

• Strengthen team cohesion ;
• Embellish and enhance the attractiveness of an area or neighborhood;
• Creating a sense of ownership ;
• Enhance a place with a unique work of art;
• Introducing participants tourban art;
• Makingart accessible to as many people as possible.

Who can organize a participatory murals ?

First of all, there's no age limit for frescoes. From schoolchildren to residents of nursing homes.

Secondly, there's no need for skills either. So we can involve all the residents of a neighborhood or all the employees of a company, without any selection.

The real question is how to get them involved. For example, you could simply get them to vote on the project. Or get them involved in the painting process. Finally, you can also involve them after completion, with interaction. Every project is tailor-made.

The murals with a vote to choose the artist or artwork

First of all, to get an audience involved in a murals, you can get them to vote. For example, you can organize a vote to choose an artist or a work of art. This can be done with local residents or company employees. It's a simple and inexpensive way of involving the public. What's more, it creates a link between the work and the public.

The murals as part of a participatory budget

Would you like to transform your neighborhood with street art and art in general? We regularly create artistic frescoes as part of a participatory budget. Generally, it's the local residents who come up with the project who call on us. We help them to put together their application. Then, if the project is accepted by the town's residents, we move on to the realization.

We can paint the murals on a facade, a sports field, or even on the pavement.

The creation of a murals during participatory workshops

Then, to take the participatory aspect even further, it is possible to organize workshops to create the work. In this case, professional artists supervise the workshops and incorporate the participants' ideas into their work.

No artistic talent is required. We can organize workshops with schoolchildren. It also works as an artistic team-building activity for a company. Finally, we've already created works of art - and even street art - with the residents of a retirement home.

However, this obviously requires artists to be trained to run these workshops. This limits artistic choice. Finally, the budget for such a project will depend on the number of participants.

Team building murals

Secondly, painting a murals is an excellent team-building activity. It's simple, it's fun for everyone and it strengthens team cohesion. And in the end, you get a beautiful murals. Typically, the artists start with a quick grounding in the basics of street art. Then they lay out stencils and masking tape on the support. Then participants let their creativity flow and paint. Finally, the stencils and masking tape are removed, and the result is magnificent.

These artistic team-building events are designed for companies, schools and retirement homes.

Interactive murals to engage the public

Finally, we design and produce interactive murals. In general, interaction is triggered by a QR code integrated into the murals. Interaction can then take a variety of forms. For example, the murals can be animated in augmented reality. Or it can be linked to a video game. What's more, the murals can generate interaction on social networks.

Examples of participative frescoes

collective murals with artists in Dugny

We have created several collaborative frescoes for the social landlord Seine-Saint-Denis Habitat. This one involved the residents and associations of a neighborhood in Dugny. The artist duo Ensemble Réel created a work depicting Malala Yousafzai (Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2014).

First, we organized collaborative workshops with local youngsters. The program included sketching and an introduction to street art. Next, local residents voted on the final sketch. Finally, the artists painted the murals, with a helping hand from local youngsters.

See how it was made with the help of local children

A giant collaborative murals with artist Vinie

Next, here's a project with street art artist Vinie Graffiti. The artist involved local youngsters in the creation of part of the murals. This collective work brought local residents together to collaborate on an original artistic project. Above all, this monumental work of street art transformed the neighborhood.

An interactive murals with augmented reality in Paris

Finally, here's an innovative interactive murals project created with agency Green Garden Digital and artist Ruben Gérard. This murals comes to life on Instagram thanks to an augmented reality filter. This technology dramatically changes the way the work is viewed. What's more, it allows the work to be shared on social networks.

A mix of hand-painted advertising and digital advertising was a big hit with passers-by.

How to organize a collaborative murals ?

Each project is unique, but here are the main stages involved in a collaborative murals project:

• Project scoping and budget estimate
• Definition of an artist or artistic director
• Detailed quotation
• Workshop organization
• Painting the murals

What's the budget for a participatory murals ?

First of all, it's hard to give an order of magnitude for this type of project. Whether it's a small collaborative murals in a school, an artistic team building or giant frescoes across an entire neighborhood, the budget has nothing to do with it. It can vary from 3,000 to 300,000 euros.

Here are some of the factors that affect the cost estimate:

• Participatory aspect (e.g. number of workshops and participants) ;
• Size of work ;
• Artist's choice ;
• Type and condition of substrate ;
• Accessibility (e.g. need for a gondola, rope access, etc.).

Do you have a project in mind? We'll be happy to give you a budget estimate or quote.