Proposal

We have created eight murals over the past two years, mainly with preschoolers and elementary school students.

The foremost purpose of our project is to offer a memorable educational arts experience for children. At the same time, we strive to create a time and space that nurtures a feeling of connectedness between people from different age groups, social backgrounds, and cultures.

The artistically designed mural, a symbol of the communal work, remains in the community and is a lasting remainder of the feelings experienced during its creation.

We would be very honored if you could consider some possible sites for our project.

One of the most unique features of our method of mural making is that no special experience or training is required to draw characters in the mural, yet the participants can enjoy freely designing and coloring their own characters.

Because of this feature, children and participants can feel that the mural is their own work rather than someone else’s.

Our artists and designers plan each mural work so as to best fit its location and participants.

It symbolizes ideas such as life, peace, harmony, growth, protection, and fruitfulness.

Procedure for Water-based Paint Mural
+ Special Workshop

Deciding on the Mural Site
Size of the wall = The larger the wall, more impactful the work becomes.

For a 5m wall ~ about 10 to 20 students for 1 hour with 2 to 5 adult helpers. (More adults are needed to help the students if they are younger.) Scaffolding of some sort is usually needed.

Choosing the participating children’s group
We have worked with children in groups of 25 to 250. Usually, 10 to 30 children work at a time for about one hour.

Proposal of Mural Design
After deciding on the site and the number & age of children, our artist and designers team will design the mural; usually within two to three weeks.

Once you agree on the mural design, we will set a schedule of mural making allocating a particular group of children and adults for certain time period.

In addition to mural making, we would like to offer some cultural exchange arts workshops.

It takes two days for mural making unless the size of the mural is much larger than those we have created so far. The first day is for preparation and the second day is for drawing & painting.

Cultural exchange arts workshops.We ask all the participants for the permission beforehand regarding the use of their photos to be posted on our web site & on our brochure.

Procedure for the “Sgraffito” mural

Sgraffito means “to scratch,” or “to scrape.” This fresco technique is used to draw on a plaster surface. First, colors are painted on a plaster surface, and then another layer of plaster is applied on top. Finally, the top layer is scraped off along a design outline.

Limewater is applied to the surface to cover the paint. The paint becomes calcified and works to preserve the bright colors. This technique was mainly used in medieval European architecture as a decorative technique.

Dr. Sakura is a (1970) graduate of Lumbini Kindergarten with strong roots in Saiki City, and he holds a doctorate in fine arts from the top Japanese art college, Tokyo University of the Arts. He received a scholarship to study in Italy where he learned the classical method of “sgraffito.” He lived in New York City early on in his career, and then returned to the Tokyo metropolitan area, his professional base. In 2006, NHK produced an hour-long feature program on Dr.Sakura in a series titled “Top Runner,” which introduces talented rising “stars” of various professions.

1967年、大分県生まれ。ミラノ市立芸術大学絵画専攻・イタリア政府給費留学。東京藝術大学大学院後期博士課程修了 博士号授与（藝大第64号博士）。アサヒビール芸術文化財団スカラシップ賞。久米桂一郎賞。サロン・ド・プランタン賞。ISCPアーチストinレジデンスプログラムNewYork。天宣会壁画プロジェクト。御殿山・フレスコ画のある家プロジェクト。他多数。