This past Mandela Day, the ‘Home from Home’ Foster home received a beautiful gift in the form of a mural on their wall thanks to artist Roscoe Masters.
Cape Town, South Africa (19 July 2021) – Roscoe Masters, the head of art at Sea Point High School decided to paint giant make-believe characters on a garden wall outside a foster home, ‘Home from Home’, in Westlake, Cape Town.
He started teaching art to these four children in hard lockdown last year and thought this would be a great gift for them for Mandela Day! He painted the basic mural and let the children colour it in.
“I challenged them to paint the wall in 67 minutes” he says with a chuckle.
“I think they really loved the experience and are very proud of their bright, new mural. It has certainly received quite a bit of attention from the community. I was part of the World Cup mural group that painted 18 bus shelters on the Cape Flats for the 2010 Soccer World Cup so I have had a little practice!” describes Roscoe.
Roscoe is often involved in community projects. One of the most rewarding being the Orange Art Project. An innovative initiative that was the brainchild of Jill Trappler, a well-known Cape-based artist who approached Roscoe and eight other artists to assist her with providing art guidance to 14 foster homes and a total of 52 Home from Home children.
The aim was to provide an educational activity in a fun and creative way while staying safe and indoors. Many schools sent through work intermittently, so new ways of keeping children occupied were much needed.
“Our foster mothers take care of up to six children. As you can imagine, this gets quite challenging at times when children are bored and frustrated and don’t want to stay at home from weeks on end” explains Peter Marx, Executive Director at Home from Home.
The Orange Art Project was so successful that it resulted in an exhibition at Spin Street Gallery in February this year. 365 artworks were displayed and the children involved were very proud to see their creations within the walls of the majestic Sir Herbert Baker building.
“I love seeing children grow and develop their creative talent and observe what it does to their self esteem. My favourite quote by Vincent van Gogh is Anything done in love is done well” smiles Roscoe broadly.
Take a look at the fun mural below.
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