St. Martin's Courier #10 Murals Edition by St. Martin's Courier

EDITOR’S NOTE Dear readers, On behalf of our pupils, I would like to thank you for reading this special tenth edition of the St. Martin’s Courier: Street Art Edition! When you live, work, or go to school in Heerlen, it is impossible not to notice the murals. Urban Art is here to stay, with its different styles, use of colour and thought provoking themes. A perfect subject for our pupils, I would say.. The pupils of V2at and V2bt (school year 2017/2018) worked on their essay assignment, to find out more about their subject and to improve their English writing skills. The theme for this special edition was linked to the website/application Streetart Cities, a great way to find more information about street art in Parkstad and all over the world. The pupils (mostly) chose their own murals from the website/application and wrote the essays you are about to read. I am happy to report that the pupils were able to put together a fantastic issue and I must say that I am extremely proud to share the end result with all of you. As has been the case from the start, this Editor in Chief helped them along the way, but did not interfere in their writing process or what they were writing about. This also means that there might be mistakes in grammar and spelling, but I hope you will agree that this in no way affects the quality of the articles. We also included an interview with James Jetlag, the most popular artist among our students. He is also currently in the midst of preparations (together with our CKV pupils) for the first mural on our own school building. You can also find our up-to-date stories, pictures and videos about our bilingual department on Facebook: www.facebook.com/StMartinsCourier and follow us on Instagram @st.martins.courier Questions, remarks, suggestions? courier@sintermeerten.nl ! Work on our eleventh issue will start in October. Until then. Dennis van Roekel

Editor In Chief St. Martin’s Courier tto coordinator

INTERVIEW Thanks for the interview Mr. Jetlag. You were the most popular artist amongst the pupils who had to write an essay about street art. How does that make you feel? I’m flattered. Has the perception of the public regarding streetart changed a lot over the years? Yes. It changes constantly. It’s an ongoing process of cultural development and public cultural awareness of a society. What was your first mural you were really proud of? 1997: first big mural in Heerlen EVER. It doesn’t exist anymore; it used to be straight across the north side of the Maankwartier entrance. How would you describe your own style? I have another view on the meaning of ‘style’ as which most of the people (and artists) do. I don’t see it as the repetitive and recognizable subjects or themes which an artist uses, but as the definition of his ‘hand’; his choice of colors, the way he uses composition, light and dark, textures and so on. ‘Style’ defines for me that what is recognizable in an artist’s work as typically him (or her), even if you would let him produce a 1000 completely different works. I’m not so fond of artists who keep on repeating themselves without any further, deeper development; just because they have discovered some kind of trick which they can keep on repeating endlessly…. Because of success or lack of creative talent to find other ways to express themselves. (Yes, that’s a hard conclusion, but that’s how I see it.) So one can recognize my ‘hand’, which I define as my ‘style’, but there ain’t no thing like some subject or way of painting which I keep on repeating endlessly, just to call it my ‘style’. It won’t happen. Did you teach yourself to become a street artist? Yes. Street Art has chosen me, already when I was a little kid in primary school, before I even knew what it was. How did you come up with the design for our school building? Thinking and visualizing. I do most of the conceptual process in my mind and not as drawings on paper or with the digital tools. When the moment comes that I translate it into a physical design I already know completely what it is going to be like. I can see it in my mind. Can you tell us a bit more about the process from the first sketch to the last spray on the wall? I throw some ideas or themes together with some thoughts or basic visualizations into the back of my head and give it a couple of weeks (or even months) time to process and progress in there. How important is social media for you and your work? It isn’t for the work. It could be for the promotion and networking purposes from the artist perspective.

JAMES JETLAG What would be a reason/topic for you to decline a professional assignment? If the subject is boring, if I’m too restricted in free expression of my vision on the subject and / or if the budget is too small for the expected work. I’m making a living of it as a professional artist and cultural entrepreneur in which I deliver a constant high quality so I can’t agree with being underpaid. Do you still have time to freestyle? Hardly ever. This is probably an impossible question, but which of your own murals is your favourite? None. Who are your favourite artists or what are your favourite murals? I have a couple of favourites, who produce completely different work as I do. I love them for their creative and technical talent as artists and painters. One example: SAINER from the ETAM CRU (Poland). What is still on your bucket list? Flying around the Moon in a flying disk. Have you got advice for Sintermeerten pupils, who also want to become street artists? Keep on doing what YOU want. Never get demotivated because of people who tell you ‘what you can’t do or become, because this and because that’ and: ‘You need to get a proper job’ etc etc. That’s bullsh*t. If you want to be a successful artist, you become one. But only if you want it. I’ve decided to become that and I have been and will be because of that decision. :-) Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure... You can follow James and his amazing work on: www.facebook.com/morejamesjetlag/ www.instagram.com/jamesjetlag/

Pictures: © Instagram James Jetlag & sintermeertencollege

“SYNTHESIS”

BY RICK

“Synthesis” is a mural located at the Spoorsingel 12 in Heerlen that was made in 2016 by two artists from Rotterdam: Koen Harmsma and Jelmer Noordeman. These two artists are also known as Bier en Brood. I chose this artwork because I thought the intriguing design stood out in the black and white background. The mural has a wavy background with a robot in front. The robot has the face of a human but is actually a robot. This was done intentionally: the message of this mural is that humans will merge with machines because we spend too much time with them. I think that’s a very strong message and they portrayed this very well. If you look closely to the mural you can see that the robot/human is slowly sinking away in the black and white, almost like it’s drowning and screaming for help. Koen and Jelmer are from Rotterdam and graduated the Willem de Kooning Art Academy in 2010. They have a unique style that is inspired by nature, architecture and technology. They mostly use black and white. I like the attention to detail in the artwork. They made the robot parts very detailed with lots of wires and small pieces that are linked together. I like the contrast in the black and white but it doesn’t grab your attention that much. Next to this mural, there are some other murals with lots of colour. If you walk by it, you might not even notice that it’s a mural. There is more space covered with the background than the foreground, so it can be a bit hard to see the robot. If you do look closely you can see how beautiful this mural is. I like the style of the art and the message behind it. The background also looks nice on its own. I like the shading they have done on the arm. It really makes it look authentic and realistic. Bier en Brood have done a wonderful job at mixing a more comic looking style with a more realistic look. This piece of art makes you think about what will happen to humans in the near future. It makes you think the next time you pick up your phone, open your laptop or switch on your tv. Should you make a difference in your lifestyle? Should you look at your devices less? That’s what I like most about this mural. With only two colours they managed to capture a powerful message. I really like this artwork except for the fact that it doesn’t grab your attention. I think you should go see this mural because of the amount of effort they put into the details and if you don’t like this mural itself, there are lots of other murals in the area. It can really make you think, so I think it’s definitely worth seeing.

“HATCHING OF THE HUMANITY” BY BAS

The mural is made by Aleksei Bordusov and it is called Hatching of the Humanity. It is located in the Rozestraat 2-96 in Heerlen The mural was made at the 1st December 2016. I have chosen this mural because of the style of this mural which in my opinion has a lot of creativity in it. The mural shows the earth with part of it broken because a ladder leading to another planet (probably the sun). There are broken parts of the earth located around it. The earth is located in an open field surrounded with plants and clouds. The man climbing the ladder to the planet is much bigger as the surrounding people. The man has 2 heads, one head with a blindfold and the other head with a magnet on it. In the background you can see 2 people. One woman looking at a book and one man flying with sort of jets which come out of his legs. The clouds in the background are really close to the surface so a sort of mist. In the background you can also see that it is dusk and you see other planets. Aleksei Bordusov also known as Aec Interesni Kazki (meaning interesting fairytales) is an artist who makes murals all over the world. He lives and is born in Kiev, Ukraine. He has done lots of projects with murals already with this one in Heerlen as one his most recent ones. He gets his inspiration for his murals from different things, especially from religion, cosmology, science and myths. The name Hatching of the Humanity has been made up by the primary school near the mural. There is also a quote round the mural which is: You will only see it when you get it. Which means that you need to understand the creativity behind the mural otherwise you will not get it. In my opinion this mural is really nice because of the creativity of this mural. All the things happening at same moment make you really think about the mural. The art style is really different from other artists which I think is great. The only thing I dislike about the mural is the location. I think if the mural would have been located near the city centre of Heerlen more people could see the mural and admire it. The mural itself has in my opinion no dislikeable things because it is just a way of creativity of this artist. So in conclusion I think you should definitely go and see this mural because it has a lot of creativity, colourfulness in it and the height of this mural is higher than other murals. So visit it, even if you don’t live near it.

“DANCE TILL YOU BREAK”

BY DYLANO

The mural is made by James Jetlag and it is called: Dance till you break. You can find the mural in the Schinkelstraat 13 in Heerlen. I chose this mural because I really like breakdance and I did breakdance as well. Besides that this mural is an ode to the notorious IBE which is a big breakdance event. The mural consists out of a big B-Boy (A boy who does breakdance) who is in a freeze position. The artist of the mural is James Jetlag. His real name is Martin Plag. He lives in Eygelshoven. He has 27 years of graffiti and mural experience. His vision is: Art connects people in the neighbourhood it increases cohesion and it makes depressed districts more lively. The mural was made in 2010 and as I already mentioned, it is an ode to the International Breakdance Event. The notorious IBE. It was an idea from James Jetlag and Cuttin’ Class which came up spontaneously. They decided to paint the big b-boy so they wouldn’t be annoyed anymore by that nasty spot in the city of Heerlen. The thing I really like about the mural is the b-boy idea. I also like the details in the sneakers, the face and the cap. It looks very realistic. The only thing I dislike is the stop sign on his right sneaker. I think murals are perfect to fill up nasty spots and buildings. You should definitely go and see this mural because it looks great and has a lot of details. It’s impressive how James Jetlag created such a big mural with so many details.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;KOOLPIETâ&#x20AC;?

BY ROEMER

The artist is Collin van der Sluijs. He made the mural in Heerlen named Koolpiet. And it is located at the Honingmannstraat 2A. The mural was made in 2013 and in 2016 it won the Wonderwalls award. I chose this mural because it tells a lot about the history of Heerlen, and I like the way of painting. I think the mural is about when there were coal mines they used this kind of birds to find out if there was any gas. Because the bird had smaller lungs than humans he would die more quickly. There is also the gas mask in this mural. The artist chose this kind of painting because he was really impressed by the story behind it. I really like it because it is made showing the history of our own city. And I think if you know the story behind it you will understand the mural much more. But I really dislike the location it is such a boring place I think it really earned a better place. So I really like the history about this mural and I think you should really visit it because it is a beautiful mural. And when you are done watching the mural underneath it you can find a place to eat đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x2030;đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x2030;.

“HæMODYNAMICS”

BY LUUK

The mural which I have chosen is made by Daan Botlek and it is called Hæmodynamics. You can find this mural at the Henri Dunantstraat 5 at the waiting room of the cardiology department of the Zuyderland Hospital. I have chosen this mural because I thought this would be special because almost all other murals can be found outside, and this mural can be found inside a hospital. I can see white coloured people who are walking on rocks and climbing on red and blue coloured ropes. They don’t have any face and it looks like the white coloured people are helping each other. Daan Botlek is born in Rotterdam. He creates paintings all over the world. He considers the way of being an artist more as a way to life instead as a job and he says that when he needs money he starts with a new painting. Daan Botlek made a total of 43 paintings, in all of these 43 paintings you can find the white coloured people. Hæmodynamics design is inspired by the vascular system within living organisms. It is made of acrylic paint and the size of the painting is not known. The mural is created as tribute to the hard-working cardiologists, employees and the nurses. It is created in the year 2017. I like the mural even though I almost don’t know anything about art. I like it that it is created on a weird spot because I have never seen a mural in a hospital. The last thing that I liked was that the mural was near my house, I only had to cycle for 11 minutes. The only thing I disliked was that we had to search for 10 minutes in the hospital to find the mural. Because we had to do this mural assignment I found out more about Daan Botlek for example what kind of paintings he made. I also found out more about the mural which I have chosen for example why he made this mural. Before I started this assignment, I hoped that I would learn who Daan Botlek is and what kind of paintings he made and I think I succeeded. I want to thank Ilya that he cycled with me and for making the nice picture of me and the mural.

“TULIPMANIA”

BY NOOR

The artist of the mural is Gaia and the mural is called Tulipmania/Tulpenmanie. It is located on the Vijgenweg 47, 6412 VN Heerlen. I chose it because Mr. Van Roekel said it would be a nice one, and it indeed was! It looks really tall and colourful! The mural is made on an apartment building. The colors are mostly pink-ish colors. It shows a half face of a man and some pink flowers held by chains. The background has a powder pink color. Right below, you see some fruits and vegetables. The mural looks like it is made in 3D. Gaia is born in New York City in 1988. He graduated on the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2011 while living in Baltimore. He later got a bachelor in Fine Arts. His street work can be seen in several books about Urban Art. His studio work and gallery projects can be seen throughout all the six habitable continents. Gaia was listed as a 2015 Forbes 30 under 30 in Art and Style. His name comes from the Greek word “earth goddess” and in the beginning of his career he used animals in his paintings to show his interest in bringing nature to urban areas. The man in the painting is Frederik Hendrik. He was born in 1625 and he died in 1647. Frederik Hendrik was a Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He was also Sovereign Prince of Orange during the Golden Age. He was advent of the Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie (VOC) as well. The flowers seen in the mural represent the Tulipmania. this, the Tulipmania, was one of the first documented commodity bubbles in the history of Europe as well as from mercantilism. The mural also shows some Dutch fruits and vegetables, these are shown because this Dutch food is eaten through the whole world! Tulipmania is made in the year 2017. It is made for the project; Heerlen Murals- Alternative Perspectives. I like it because it is very tall! I think it is made really nice, it also uses a lot of colour and that makes the mural even nicer. The mural as well looks very interesting! I don’t like the location that much because it is just in the middle of houses and apartment building. I think you should go see this mural because it is a beautiful photo spot and it has nice and bright colours. What is also nice about this mural is that you can learn a bit about the Dutch history and know a little bit more.

“50 SHADES OF GREEN”

BY ILYA

The mural is made by James Jetlag. The name of the mural is 50 shades of Green. The location of the mural is at the Bremersweg underneath a bridge. I've chosen this mural because the location matches with the environment: the mural is made with almost only green and it's like 10 metres from a wood, I also like the mural because of the colours; they are bright so if someone walks near the mural you would see it immediately. I can see a lot of brightness this makes me feel happy. I see three lamps where you can put something in if you want and I see a mural that's made to help people be more happy and creative. James Jetlag likes to work on Murals, public art projects and likes to give graffiti workshops and educational art programs. He lives in Kerkrade and is 42 years old. He has his own company for ten years already. His work is to make murals. When he was 10 years old he already liked drawing and drew a lot and when he was 15 he started with graffiti, so you can say he already knew what he wanted to do for job when he was 12 or something like that. In 2012 a collaboration between James Jetlag, Cuttin’Class, the city of Heerlen and the state authorities of Limburg resulted in the project Colour In Transit. The project contains multiple murals on at least five highway bridges. All bridges contain huge walls, most of them longer than 35 meters and all of them have a height in between 3 and 5,5 meters. The full project covers over more than 1000 square meters. All walls have been coated with a high quality antigraffiti coating which makes it very easy to wipe off any unwanted graffiti without damaging the paintings. This design was painted on the South Side Mural of another bridge in the Colours In Transit project. It contains literally 50 shades of green and ONLY shades of green. I like it because of the colours and ideas the muralist put in it. And I dislike it because if you want to see it and you are not going for a walk in the wood you need to search for it. I wanted to thank Luuk for cycling and searching for the mural and taking the nice picture. I think you should see it because you can take a walk in the wood and you see at the same time a mural where somebody put a lot of time in.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;UNDERWATER WORLDâ&#x20AC;?

BY CHâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ASKA

The mural I got is made by James Jetlag and he is a Dutch professional artist. It is called "Underwater world" and can be found on Huskensweg 86-96 in Heerlen. The mural was chosen for me by Mister van Roekel because the mural I had chosen myself was already taken by another student. The Dutch artist James Jetlag is also known as Jiggy Jetlag or Famous Jamous. He makes murals and anti-graffiti projects, gives graffiti workshops and develops educational art programmes. He has been doing his job for 27 years and he lives in Heerlen, so I think it is really good he tries to make the city look nicer. He has made lots of other murals and I really like some of them. All his works look different ,which I think is really good. This mural was made in 2012 as a part of an art project. I think murals can be really nice because they make normal walls look a lot more colourful and attractive when they used to be really boring. I have seen other murals which I definitely prefer. The mural I got is on the inside wall of a small bridge. It looks like a sea, it has lots of fish, a shark and some other sea animals on it. There also is one person on the drawing. It is a women and she is an diver. I do not really like this mural because I think the shark looks a bit freaky and the other animals a bit weird. I do think the art work was really good. It has a lot of colours and the use of depth and dimension is good too. Some people may like the animals in the painting or just the painting itself but it is just not my kind of thing. And it definitely is a good mural. Like I said, I do not really like this mural but if you are a person who likes the sea, animals or just really like to go see some murals. You should go to this one too. It is different than most murals and I think James Jetlag is a really talented person.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;EAST HARBOR PERSEVERANCEâ&#x20AC;?

BY VINCE

This mural was made by Hendrik Beikirch, alias ECB, he makes black and white portraits which he paints on facades, canvases and paper. The mural is called East Harbour perseverance and is located in the Peter Schunkstraat, in Heerlen. I chose it because it felt, Natural, relatable and somehow familiar. I've seen it before, a lot of times, but I forgot all those times and seeing it doesn't bring back those memories, but it does bring back the feeling. The mural itself is beautiful, it is old and ragged and is pleasing to look at. Beikirch has been a household name in graffiti and street art since the mid-1990. In 1989 he created his first picture with a spray can. From 1996-2000 Beikirch

studied art education

at the

University of Koblenz-Candau. Beikirchs murals are often captivated by huge dimensions, an extraordinary pictorial language and by the socio-critical statements he makes with his pictures. The mural was made approximately in 2008 when I was in primary school. I really like this mural it looks so good. I really like this mural probably because I have seen it so many times when I was younger, but also of its distinct feel as I described earlier. The street artist alienates his works by bleeding individual drops of colour as well as distortions by stretching and compressing. They belong to the scene of Realism. You should go see it, but go to the McDonalds there, it is much more pleasing seeing it there.

“TRÓPICOS”

BY RUHAMA

I choose the street art created by Finok because I cycle along it when I come back from school. It is a big great wall with a beautiful piece of graffiti on it, located at the Groene Boord 31 in Heerlen. South American culture, that is because of the simple style with different shades of green and red shown and the art work with the totems with faces and symbols is inspired from the Brazilian culture. His work is very recognizable by his style and use of color. The Important elements shown in this piece of street art are the popular Brazilian kites and balloons, which explains the balloon-like figures and heads. A very special feature Finok created is the almost glasslike effects on the wall. He also used gold, lively patterns and native Indian-like themes. The two parts on both sides of the railway bridge are well matched. The diversity, culture and his origin have a great influence on his work. Finok comes from São Paulo but he lives in the Netherlands. He likes to use elements that people do not pay attention to or forget about. This project called Heerlen Murals took place in 2014. I have seen the process of this artwork from the beginning to the end. I really like Finok's artwork because I think his style is unique. I think you have to go and see this art piece because in my opinion it's a very special and unique piece of art.

“FACE”

BY TRISTAN

Face by Kef! is a street art piece in Aachen, Germany which lies on a gate into a garage, which is located in the Königsstrasse 42. I chose this art piece because I liked the way Kef!uUsed the lines to make it look more crowded and because I liked its location. The mural is a jungle of lines filled with colours (which look like brains to me) and at the front (the left door) you see a very clear eye and some lines that swirl straight down, which look like a mouth to me. Kef! Was born near Aachen and is now works in London, because 'there is more canvas'. And as long as he has been working on street art he has been inspired by the German artist NATURE, who uses lines a lot like Kef! does. This mural was made at the end of 2016 for the 'The Haus' project, which Kef! also painted another piece for, named Unknown-, but it has no official name (Unknown- also won the STAWAG 2017 street art award). Some noticeable things about Face are that it is very wide, uses a lot of colours, has white 'legs' and is made in two parts. It also has Kef's! Tag in the top right in bright white: all of these things, I really like. So, to sum up, a very good piece. The problem with getting to this mural is that it is kind of in the middle of nowhere, so it’s better to see it if you're already passing by. Oh, on my selfie, the gate was open. Oops.

“A CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED GLOVE” BY IZA

I choose the mural ‘A Crazy Little Thing Called Glove’ by TelmoMiel, a street-art duo from Rotterdam. It’s located along the Bekkerweg in Heerlen and I choose it because it’s near to my house and because it has pretty colours in it. In the mural you can see a boy looking at a glove above his head. He is sitting next to a moose which has all kinds of different gloves its antlers: plastic gloves, leather gloves, latex gloves and more. The moose also has a little crown above its head. The artist-duo consists of Telmo Pieper and Miel Krutzmann from Rotterdam. The mural was made in 2015 and it took 3 days to make, the artists also had to work when it was 40 degrees outside, which is a pretty bad temperature to be in the sun all day making an artwork… Also and interesting fact is that the sketch the duo made before they made the actual mural was sold signed by them in the auction for 3FM Serious Request in Heerlen. The mural is painted in a very realistic and detailed way, but is meant to be surrealistic for viewers and take them to their imagination. The name is based on a song called ‘A Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ by Queen. I like the mural because it has a pretty colour scheme and because it doesn’t have this very deep and complicated meaning, it just is what it is. And I think you have to be quite skilled to make such a beautiful and detailed mural. So the mural ‘A Crazy Little Thing Called Glove’ is a realistic looking mural with a surrealistic meaning. People should go see it because it’s even more beautiful from close by. By the way, I hope there isn’t a van in front of it when you go and see it, because when I was there, there was…

“PIÑATA”

BY KAMILE

The mural is made by Super A, his real name is Goes. The mural is called Piñata. This is the location where you can find it: Spoorsingel 50, 6412 AC Heerlen, The Netherlands. I chose this mural because it looks very nice and has pastel colours. On this mural you can see a camera. The camera is pasted with note papers in four colours: Yellow, pink, blue and mint green. It is made on a white wall, so the colours look brighter. The mural was made for a protest than ran out of control. So, Heerlen wants to look a bit like London, because they have a lot of cameras at public places. And they want to remember what happened there. The mural was made in the year 2014. It was a project with 7 artists from all over the world. All artists made different murals. They did this project to bring the urban lifestyle together. The mural is made by Super A, that is not his real name. His real name is Goes and he is a Dutch man. He is a multidisciplinary artist. He studied as a home and advertising painter and after his study he worked in a decor studio. There he made a lot of paintings on walls. Now he is a full-time street artist. He paints in a supreme hyper realistic style. He makes his paintings with a lot of detail. Most of his paintings are made with critique on worlds politics. But all his paintings have a couple of cartoonish characters in them, to let it look a bit funny. He works in his studio and at public places. What I really like about this mural is that it has bright colours, the colours look nice together. The mural is made with a lot of detail. It looks like a real camera, but very big. It is made at a nice spot, so you can see the mural well. What I dislike about this mural, is that it is just a camera. It also doesn’t really have a nice background. It is just white. It would be nice if the background had more detail or colour. But still the mural looks very nice. So, I do really like this mural, because it is made at a nice spot and it has pastel colours. You definitely need to go and see the mural. As I already said, it is made at a nice spot, and you can see it from far away. You can take great pictures. And it looks nice with the pastel colours.

“IN LOVING MEMORY”

BY MEYKE

The mural I have chosen is “In Loving Memory” made by Dave de Leeuw. The location of my mural is the Burgemeester Waszinkstraat 7 in Heerlen. I have chosen this mural because it has a really special meaning to me. The mural is painted in memory to Remi Vervloet, and it is him that makes the mural really special. If you just pass along the mural you may think that the painting is a little bit weird. But if you know the story you will think about it every time you pass it. I really want to tell you the story about this mural as it is different than the others. The mural is a woman with a big bear head with glasses and she is holding a squid and a pink lipstick. She is sitting in a water pool with sunflowers hanging their heads down. The painter of this mural is Dave de Leeuw. Dave de Leeuw was born in Heerlen in 1981. He studied at the academy of fine arts in Maastricht and he graduated in 2008. His paintings are between realistic and abstract. Some of his works are even included in personal collections. This mural was made to remember an artist, father and a friend: his name was Remi Vervloet. Unfortunately, Remi died in 2012. Remi was the father of one of my best friends and he was a good friend of my father. When Remi was a young boy he liked to play football across the street from this mural, RKSV Bekkerveld. Family and friends from Remi will see a lot in this mural, because every piece describes something about Remi’s life. For example, some people [like my mum] called Remi a teddy bear and the sunflowers are hanging with their heads down because they’re sad. The opening of this mural was on 11 august 2013. In my opinion this is a really special, beautiful but also a little sad mural especially for friends, family and fans from his paintings. I really like that you can see all the different aspects in the mural but I don’t like that there is a window in it. So it is a really special mural with a story behind it about love and life. I would definitely say that you should see this mural because then you can experience all the feelings and emotions by yourself.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;MOVEMENT OF IDEASâ&#x20AC;?

BY LAI

This mural is called: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Gedachten in bewegingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; / â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Movement of Ideasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (it was given both an English name as well as a Dutch name), and it was made on the building in the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Spoorsingel 18â&#x20AC;&#x2122; by an artist called Christiaan Riffel (also known as Poeta). I chose this mural because I like the colours he used and the forms in his artwork. It made me feel kind of happy looking at it, and made me curious about its background and the person who made it, so it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hard to choose my Mural. The mural is an abstract artwork, made on a side of a past ugly and empty building, with beautiful pastel colours that fit together very well. It consists out of different geometric forms, although it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t appear wild or busy, but clean and modern. I think it gives of a kind of cheerful and carefree vibe, yet I think it also gives a somewhat elegant and decent one because of the kind of colours and forms in it, and I like that about it. I think that it would be difficult to use all these colours and different forms without making it look like a colour bomb with all forms mixed together, which makes me respect this artist even more! Unfortunately, when I went to see the mural myself, I thought it was a shame that it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t in a good state as it was at the time it was made. You could see some cracks of the building and the paint and in some places the paint was less visible (maybe it faded a little bit?). But, nevertheless, it is still a stunning mural and a few flaws canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t change how impressive it was, no, scratch that, how impressive it still is. Talking about this artist, Christiaan Riffel was born in 1982 (currently 35 years old), and born in Argentina. He started making art in the streets of Buenos Aires and studied graphic design at the University of Buenos Aires. He then, in 2007, decided to quit and dedicate his life fully to his artistic career, Poeta starts giving workshops in universities and institutions so he secures his vision and sensibility towards art (which is based on the dialogue between physical and physiological human and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s different interpretations of life), and to expand his horizon and knowledge. And from 2008 he paints murals and exposes his artworks in various festivals in Europe and America, so he gained international recognition. He made this mural in 2015 in the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Transition of Colourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; project in Heerlen in which old, ugly and empty buildings are transformed by allowing artists, like Poeta, to add art and colour to their appearances , with the purpose of positively influencing the image of Heerlen herself. So, all the stuff I told you just now in short: I would definitely recommend other people to see this Mural themselves! Not only because of its amazing appearance of awesome colours and forms, but also to see one of the extraordinary beautiful pieces of art created by this talented and hard-working artist! And although it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t in the state it was when it was painted, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definitely worth seeing. And if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe me, the more reason you should absolutely visit it đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x2030;đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x2030;.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;UNKNOWNâ&#x20AC;?

BY MAXIM

The artists of this mural are Colin van der Sluijs, Super A and Rutger Termohlen. The name of this mural is unknown but it is located on the Mijnspoorweg 35 in Heerlen. I chose this mural because I really like the colour scheme that is in this mural. And also because I really like how the animals are painted in this mural, my favourite is the fox. The mural has like different aspects in it, the animals, the colours, the shapes. I think that it looks kind of weird because it looks a bit messy, but I think that that is what they are trying to accomplish here. Also, the mural has a lot of natural elements in it and also natural colours have been used. Colin van der Sluijs himself has made a couple of murals, some of them also with Super A, you can find more of his work in Belgium and in Rotterdam. He makes some of his murals with graffiti but he also paints some. He also paints in his gallery where he makes paintings of people, he gets his inspiration from people and the world and puts these aspects in his paintings/murals. Much about his personal life is not known. The mural itself was made by these 3 artists and was made with graffiti. Collin was responsible for the natural elements, and Super A was responsible for the big animals and Rutger did the rest. How long it took them is also not known. As I said it looks a bit messy but maybe they wanted it to look like that, but I really like the colours that they used and the shapes and the scheme just makes it a good looking painting, I would have added a bit more colour but that is my opinion. But I think it looks pretty good. So the mural looks pretty good, not totally my style but it is something new. The colour scheme looks good, the animals are painted realistically which I like, there is just much to like and just a bit to dislike, because I would have added in a bit more bright colours but that is my opinion. The artists themselves know each other and have painted a lot of murals which are in Belgium, Rotterdam, in Heerlen, etc. But I think that the artists did a pretty good job on painting this mural and I think that you should go and see it because it stands out from other murals I have seen, and it is in a good spot too , and the animals and the colours together look amazing.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;BACK ON TRACKâ&#x20AC;?

BY JOLIJN

For this assignment I chose the mural: Back on track. By Dave de Leeuw. I remember choosing it because the puppets looked really cute and the woman's bun really stands out and immediately caught my attention. It's located on the 5th of the Henri Dunantstreet. Dave the Leeuw, is a Dutch painter. He was born in 1981. I wasn't able to find his birthdate. I did find his address; he lives in Maastricht. I don't know when Back on track was made. But I do know the name of the project: Zuyderland hospital. When I approached it my eyes immediately went to the bun of the woman. Her pink hair, to be exact. Because of its bright colour it immediately caught my attention. She is picking up the little puppets because they fell and puts them back on something that looks like a shelf. There are three puppets. A yellow one, a red one and a green one. The woman is wearing a mask. Her mask looks happy. I hope that she's also happy underneath that mask. That's a thing about the painting that I don't understand. The girl is also wearing very colourful clothes. Not something I'd wear. But it looks good on her I guess. đ&#x;&#x2122;&#x201A;đ&#x;&#x2122;&#x201A; There's also a few flies on the painting. I feel like this mural is a very happy one. So as conclusion. My mural, Back on track by Dave de Leeuw, is lovely. I love the colours used and the style of the painting. I think the puppets are very cute, and I love the girl's pink hair. I don't understand her mask but I'll just ignore it I guess. I definitely do advise other people to go see it. But if you're not interested in art. You obviously shouldn't.

“BIRDS OF PARADISE”

BY LIEKE

I chose the mural: birds of paradise. Birds of paradise is located next to the bus station in Heerlen and is created by Hadassah Emmerich. I chose it, because you can see a lot of different things in it. In the mural is see a tree with two birds. The two birds have a face, it looks like an human face but then with a special twist. On the right side of the tree are colourful stripes and they look like fishtails. There are a lot of different bright colours and it looks very happy. Hadassah Emmerich is born in 1974. She studied from 1993 until 1997 at the academy of visual arts in Maastricht. In 2003 she started an education at GoldSmiths College in London. In 2015 she moved to Berlin and started working there. Hadassah is mostly known for her murals, because they have a lot of different bright colours and the shapes she uses. She also makes art on paper and collages on her computer. The mural was made in 2011, there were 3 buildings empty in the Spoorsingel. After they tore them down they made a parking lot. On the side of a building next to the parking lot there is an empty and boring wall, and she could paint there a mural that fits with the city. And so she did, The mural is about coming into Heerlen and leaving Heerlen anytime you want. The mural has this theme, because it is next to the bus station from Heerlen and a lot of people there leave Heerlen and come into Heerlen. The birds are as a symbol for freedom to come and to go anytime you want. Hadassah also made several murals in the parking garage of the hospital Zuyderland in Heerlen. I am not a very big fan of the mural, honestly I don’t even like it at all. I like the colors, when the mural was made the colors were very bright but that was in 2011. now in 2018, seven years later, the bright colors are mostly faded away. The colors are still there but they aren't as bright as they were in 2011. If I didn’t had this mural for this essay I wouldn’t even knew that mural existed. You should definitely go and see it if you pass by the mural, because you can see a lot of different things in the mural and then you can find out what the mural means to you. I actually went to the mural a couple times last month not only to work on my mural assignment but also to look what I actually see in it except for what it is supposed to look like. So Hadassah Emmerich made lots of paintings and murals: birds of paradise and the once in the parking garage of hospital Zuyderland. She also has been in different countries for her work and now lives in Berlin.

“CREED”

BY STIJN

The artist is called Inti. The painting is called creed. It is near the station of Heerlen. I like the strange way it is painted. In the mural you can see a woman with a very strange face and a flower. You can also see a heart and a belt of bullets. Inti is born in Valparaíso in chili. The name Inti comes from the Incan sun god. In a lot of paintings you see the themes like life, death and religion but it is still very colourful. Because it is so colourful but at the same time so sad it gives a very mysterious feeling. I think that you can see in this painting a lot of meanings and you can think for yourself what it’s all about. The mural was painted in 2014. The only thing I dislike about the painting is that it has to do with religion. This mural is very mysterious with a lot of colours but it still has a sad meaning. That is why it is such a good mural. You need to see it yourself because then you can live the feeling.

“DEVASTATING”

BY TIM S

The mural Devastating was made by Ben Eine. Its location is Spoorsingel 46 in Heerlen and it was made in 2016 during the event "je gaat het pas zien als je het doorhebt". I choose it because Mr van Roekel told me too so it is not really like I have chosen this painting myself but it was my own fault that I had to write an essay about this painting: I forgot to submit my choice. The mural consists of coloured letter's telling "devastating", it was made by Ben Eine who is known for making murals which consist only out of letters just like he has done here with this mural in Heerlen. He started with tagging and after 20 years in which he got arrested about 20 times he started working with graffiti icon Banksy and became one of the most famous street artists. He really became famous when the former British Prime minister David Cameron gave one of his paintings to Barack Obama in 2010. One of the must know paintings that he made was when he painted the whole alphabet on Middlesex Street in east London which then was renamed alphabet street. He also made some custom clothing designs including custom “VANDALS” sweatshirts. The mural was created during the event “je gaat het pas zien als je het doorhebt” in which artists were challenged to make art that has either worldly or local context. The artists that took part in the event were: AEC Interesni Kazki (UKR), Aryz(SP), Ben Eine(GB), Bier en Brood(NL), Dzia(BE), Isaac Cordal(SP), Nunca(BR), Serge Verheugen(NL) and Zedz(NL). The mural was made in 2016 during the event. It was made at the Spoorsingel in Heerlen at number 46. I don’t really like the mural that much. I like the letters but overall it is a bit empty because there is a lot of black space in it. So, I like how the letters look and that they are that colourful, but I don’t like that there is a lot of black in the mural because that makes it look like it is empty. So, in conclusion it is a nice mural but in my opinion, it is not beautiful. It would have been nice if the artist had put a bit more in the background. I would have recommended it but now I won’t really do that, but it still is nice so if you like it you should go and see it at the Spoorsingel 46 in Heerlen.

“HERE NOW”

BY SVEN

The mural I will be talking about is called: here now, it is made by Stohead and I chose this one because it is close to my house and it is in my opinion a really nice one. The mural was made in 2014 in the nobelstraat 16 in Heerlen. The mural is black and white with a bit of blue in the lower right corner, the left part is white with black letters and the right side is black with white letters. There is something written with the letters but I can’t really see what it is, I don’t like that because it would be much nicer when you could read it but I do like the rest of the mural because it is not in too many colours, because I do not like it when there are too many colours. I do not like the place where it is made because it is in a place where not many people come so most of the people in Heerlen won’t even know that it is there. As I said earlier it was made by Stohead, he was born in Berlin on 1973, his real name is Christoph Haessler and he still lives and works in Berlin. He was interested in paintings and murals and started with illegal graffiti in 1989, after that he started making legal murals all over the world close by like in the Netherlands and Belgium but also in the USA and Australia. Some of his art pieces even got in museums. He always says "My motivation is to take on the challenge and overcome myself". I really like the mural because it is not too busy but I have a few dislikes such as the place where it is, the fact that you can’t read the letters on the mural and that there is a chimney in the middle of the mural. I still think you should come and see it because it is really nice to see. Thank you for reading my review of the mural Here now made by Stohead.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;METAMORFOSEâ&#x20AC;?

BY SIMONE

Metamorfose is created by Lars Ickenroth. Lars Ickenroth graduated from the master art: policy, management and education Maastricht university in 2010. Metamorfose is located in the city of Heerlen at the Maankwartier building. This mural is inspired by the book Metamorfose of Ovidius. The reason I chose this mural is because I have seen it before and would like to get to know more about it. I would describe this mural as chaotic, because of all the different things that are happening and the bright colours that are used in this mural. I think the meaning behind this mural is a very chaotic city and all the people are just doing their own thing. Metamorfose is located in the Maankwartier building. Lars Ickenroth said that he chose this place, because he looked for a special place that fits with the content in his paintings. All his paintings and drawings have to do with dreaming and sleeping. So, the connection with the moon is made fast. Lars Ickenroth said he began drawing already at an early age. Since that age he already participated on ''projects'' only he wasn't really conscious about it. He said he did it because he liked it and was interested about it. Also here at his time at Sintermeertencollege he drew a lot. When he was eleven years old he went with his parents to a museum in Cologne were he first saw the big DalĂ' painting. That is when he thought: I want to do this too. But at high school he was for a while determined that he wanted to be an architect. After his time at Sintermeertencollege he studied art policy. But after 2 years working there he wanted to make his own work and projects. Since then he is an artist and independent entrepreneur. The artwork the metamorfose is special to lars Ickenroth, because all his life he lived in Heerlen and now he got the change to contribute something beautiful to the future of our town. The artwork he shows Heerlen with a rough side, but also a futuristic side and in between is the youth that is by playing the future. He thinks it is amazing he could make his artwork on this special and prominent location where hopefully other people will also get something out of it. The metamorfose project started on May 2017. Lars Ickenroth describes Heerlen as a city where both chaos and order rule. And in the middle of all this chaos live people. I think what appeals to me the most in this mural are the bright colours, because I think it stands out and it gives a pleasant ambience in the city. And I like the inspiring meaning behind the artwork. I really like the location for this artwork, because it suits well with the artwork, busy place, kids playing around. In my opinion it is definitely worth going and visiting this mural, because it has an inspiring meaning, the very bright and beautiful colours. So go and visit it!

“UNTITLED”

BY ZOË

This mural was made by Notch Johnson. This artwork is untitled. It is located at the Schaesbergerweg 200, 6415 AL Heerlen. I chose this mural because the colours make you feel happy because they are so bright and I also like how he worked with the triangles. The mural is very colourful with bright colours (blue, pink, purple, orange yellow and red) and it is made in triangles and there is a machine on the left side and it looks like someone is building a wall. The mural is not realistic and I think it looks very funny. He made some buildings in the background in more darker colours (purple, dark blue, white and black). I couldn’t find any information about the artist of the mural or the mural itself. Notch Johnson made the mural in 2015. I really like the way how Notch used the colours and triangles in this mural. I also really like how he made the buildings with the stars and night sky. I dislike the machine: I don’t think it matches with the rest of the artwork. I also dislike the ‘animal’ in the machine because you can’t see what it is and it looks kind of strange. And I also dislike how the triangle on the machine looks pretty realistic and it looks weird because the rest doesn’t looks realistic. So I really like the colours and the shape of the mural but I really don’t like the machine and the ‘animal’ inside the machine. In my opinion you should go and see the mural because the colours really make you feel happy and it just looks beautiful together.

“COLLAPSE”

BY ERIK

I chose the Collapse mural from Aryz (ESP), You can find this beautiful mural in the Willemstraat 123A. I chose this mural because I think it looks very nice and the colours are really well combined. I also think it looks nice, because it looks as if it is about the old times. You can see a big old car with a pink colour on it, because there are 2 wheels, 2 headlights and a grill. The street artist Aryz was born in Barcelona (Spain), but very little is actually known about his history as a street artist. The painter, who has drawn sporadically since his childhood, began his career on a summer day with some friends. Aryz thinks it is best to paint simply for the sake of painting; his passions for art and fun are his motivation. In fact, he is unsure of what to call his art. People often call it graffiti, while others consider it street art. Aryz enjoys using classic street art tools such as brushes, spray paint, rollers, and more. He enjoys painting in abandoned factories because people avoid bothering him there. These factories often offer a perfect location because of their huge walls and varied surfaces. Aryz prefers to create large character murals and by this he really means LARGE! This quickly earned him a spot with some of the best muralists. He states that placing a shape on a wall is a simple excuse to put colours in one place or another. This mural has something to do with the industry, and the way it changed since Henry Ford doubled the minimum wage in 1914, so that it allowed workers to buy the product they were producing. This mural was made in November 2016. I personally think this is a great mural, because it really says something about the history of the factories that were owned by Henry Ford. There is only one thing I disliked, but also liked, the colours. The combination is really nice except it would look nicer if it was a colour combination with other colours, because I don’t feel like pink is the right colour for this kind of mural.

This is a mural called collapse from a street artist called Aryz and the mural is about the industry of Henry Ford. I think it is worth seeing because it is really big and it has a great history behind it.

“SELF PORTRAIT”

BY SANDER

This mural is made by DALeast. He called it ‘self-portrait’. Its located in the Coriovallumstreet, opposite of the Thermenmuseum. I chose this mural because I see it every week when I visit my grandma and I really like how he made it. It looks like the panther is being sneaky while he comes out of a forest or bushes hunting for a prey. DALeast was born in Wuhan, China and he currently lives in Cape town, South Africa. He spends about six months per year travelling. He started making art when he was three years old, and in 2004 he started painting in public areas. In 2008 just before the Olympics in Beijing, DALeast and his graffiti crew were arrested by the police for illegal painting with graffiti. He mostly paints animals. Half animal and half machine. One of his biggest talents is to capture movement. To do this he uses all these different lines in his artworks. That give the illusion that his paintings are actually moving. He has made murals all over the world. In America, Europe, Africa and Asia. ‘Self Portrait’ was made in 2013. He called it self-portrait because a panther is a shy animal, just like DALeast. Heerlen offered DALeast to trim the trees, but he said it wasn’t needed. Now it looks like the panther is moving out of the forest. Just like he wanted. DALeast is quite famous in the world of street art because of his style of painting. I really like this painting because of the way he made it. It looks realistic, even though it are just a lot of lines. He used the perfect colours (in my opinion) for such painting. The shadows, 3D, and movement effects are really well made. I don’t really have anything that I dislike about this mural. DALeast started making art when he was three years old. He has made paintings all over the world. His painting ‘Self Portrait’ was made in 2013. If you would ever make a tour in Heerlen to see murals, you should definitely add this one to your list. It’s an amazing piece of art in the centre of Heerlen.

“KRIEBELSTAD”

BY KIKI

Kriebelstad is a mural painted by the Italian artist Francesco Camillo Giorgino, better known as Millo. He paints large scale murals, often in black and white lines and sometimes a bit of colour. It is painted on an apartment building located in Laurierstraat, Heerlen. One of the reasons I chose this mural is that I really like Millo’s style. In this mural specifically I really like that everything is painted in black and white, except for the little heart yo-yo. Kriebelstad is painted fully in black and white, except for the red heart yo-yo. In the mural you can see a very busy city; you can see roads, aeroplanes, buildings, cars and a lot of other things. But despite all of that, your main focus is still on the girl in the middle, which I really like. She is a lot bigger than the other objects in the mural and she is sitting on top of one of the buildings, playing with a yo-yo. On the left of the apartment building, her hand that is playing with the yo-yo is painted again, but this time you can only see her hand and not the rest of her body and it is painted bigger. This mural was painted for ‘Transition In Colour 2015’, a project by Heerlen Murals that lasted for two weeks; from the 25th of august to the 7th of September, 2015. Millo grew up in a small city in Italy called Mesagne. He now lives is Pescara. He actually moved there to study architecture but he chose to pursue art and participated in numerous street art festivals. He won the B.Art competition in 2014, and therefore got the opportunity to paint 13 murals across the Italian city Turin. The children attending primary school Sint Paulus, a school located in the same district as the mural, were also involved in this project. They were allowed to watch Millo work and ask him questions. There was also a poetry competition and the mural was named after the winning poem; Kriebelstad. In my opinion, Kriebelstad is a very beautiful mural due to Millo’s unique and fun style. As I mentioned before, I really like how Millo only uses black, white and a hint of colour in his murals. In Krieblstad, I like that only one object has colour; the heart-shaped yo-yo. I also like how different it looks from all the other murals I have seen in my life. Most of the murals that I have seen have more of a realistic style, which is also very beautiful, but I personally prefer a more fun and simpler style, like a doodle or a cartoon. In conclusion, I really like this mural. It has a unique and fun style I love how it is all black and white with a hint of red. I would really recommend going to this mural because it’s not like any other mural in Heerlen and everyone might have a different interpretation of what the story behind this mural is.

“GREEN OVER GOLD”

BY OSCAR

The mural ‘Green Over Gold’ is an artwork made by an artist called Fish. You can find the artwork at Willemstraat 78. I chose ‘Green over Gold’ because this one caught my eye when I was looking for a mural. I thought this one was the most interesting mural with the best story behind it. What I see in the mural is a koala and a monkey and a big leaf with some plants. In the middle I see a big, outstanding, yellow triangle. And in the background there are some buildings. The artist behind this mural is called ‘Fish’. Fish is a Dutch artist born in 1976 and raised in Parkstad. He appears to be born with sense of art. Both his grandfathers were artists too so that might be the reason why he is so passionate about muralism. He as an artist always has the urge to make something that he can put his creativity in. Fish has already been making murals and other kinds of art on the age of fourteen. His style of art is a mixture of: Street Art, Graffiti, Illustrative, Photorealism and Surrealism. He always makes something different so you won’t find a kind of pattern in his art. He doesn’t have one single inspiration source. It is just a flow of ideas. Fish made the mural ‘Green Over Gold’ in 2016. Green Over Gold has different themes of nature and animals, and different symbols mixed in one story-telling composition. Green Over Gold shows you the withdrawing wild nature inside the humans, because of the human. And the more natural mentality across the old habit of earning money. The golden triangle has different symbolic meanings behind it such as the infamous extremist group (Illuminati). The other meaning is about the trinity in the rational mind, the feeling inside and the biological origins. The thinking mind is shown as the Monkey, the meaning behind the koala is the emotional part of the human, and our old, biological, animal side as the primitive leaf. They should be a oneness. But with each other they are never evenly balanced. As you can see the thoughtful monkey is now at the bottom of the triangle, but whenever the triangle turns it all can change. I think it’s a beautiful painting with a great story behind it. The only thing I dislike is the location, because it was pretty hard to find although it was actually pretty big. It was also a surprise that it was THAT big, because many other pictures of it only showed a small part of it. I think I learned a lot of this painting and I think I will definitely look at this artwork differently (in a good way).

“BLACK & YELLOW”

BY TIBO

The mural I chose is called Black and yellow, and was created by Mr. June in 2015. It’s located in the city of Heerlen, and I chose this mural because I think it looks very cool and futuristic. Mr. June’s real name is David Louf, and he was born in 1971 which makes him 47 years old. He started making graffiti when he was only 14 years old. After six years of Hip Hop, break dance and graffiti, he did Graphic Design at the Royal College of Arts in London. When he was 26, he started working as an art director at Y&R Amsterdam, but in the same year he quit and started his own company: Out Of Order. Later in his life he became a teacher at the same Royal College of Arts in London. Mr. June got inspired by our local soccer team (Roda JC) while making this mural, that’s why he used the colours black and yellow. He made this mural during an event called: ‘Transition in colour’ by Heerlen Murals in 2015. What I like most about this mural is the fun fact that he used the colours of Roda JC, and I think it’s just a really cool looking mural. One thing I think is quite a pity of this mural is that it doesn’t have a lot of story to it, it’s just an artwork inspired by our soccer team, it doesn’t really have a special story. In the end I think it’s a beautiful and cool looking mural and another reason why you should definitely go to this mural is that there are around a dozen more beautiful murals around this location.

“HOUSE OF COLOURS”

BY ISHA

The mural House of Colours is in Huskensweg 17B, 6412 SB Heerlen, I chose this mural because it’s really close to my house. The painting was made by Judith de Leeuw. The mural is made by the 22 year old artist Judith de Leeuw. She was born and raised in Amsterdam. She started painting when she was four and at the age of 15 Judith started to do spray paint, but not murals, she used to paint graffiti letters along the road, ‘lelijke dingen’ (ugly things) is how she calls it. While spraying graffiti she met graffiti related people who learned her how to make actual art instead of some letters (however some people do consider graffiti (letters/words) as art). She started to paint murals all over Europe by her 18th. So far she has painted 12 murals all over Europe, among other cities in Stockholm, Berlin and Amsterdam. This was her first mural in Limburg. The mural is a painting of the Dutch model Myrthe Bolt. Myrthe is 18 years old and she is signed to the model agencies Next Model Management in New York. She was first signed to the Dutch model agency models rock agency, the mural is on the building. Even though she has only been modelling for 1 year she has already been on the cover of more than 15 magazines, worked with Victoria’s Secret and has run more than 50 fashion shows among others for Miu Miu, Versace, Fendi, Chanel, Off White, Dolce Gabbana Topshop and H&M. On the mural you see a girl (Myrthe Bolt) looking kind and innocent, her mouth is a opened a little, her cheek bones stand out which I think is really pretty. The painting is really dark compared to (almost) all the other murals in Heerlen, the mural looks nice even though it looks a bit depressing. The mural took less than 2 months to paint and it was finished on the 12th of November. I chose this mural because it is really close to my house, it is like one minute walking distance which is really nice for me. The mural is pretty in my opinion I like the dark colours (black and white) and on the background there are little hints of blue and a pinkish purple which are my favourite colours. I think the mural is definitely worth a visit, because it is unique and it would look cute as a background for a picture. And if you want to be a model you are lucky because you can sign up in the same building so you can kill two birds with one stone.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;NO NAMEâ&#x20AC;?

BY PLEUN

This mural is made by Dave de Leeuw and Vincent Lancee. The mural doesn't have a name and it is located in the Tichelbeekstraat below a viaduct. I chose this mural because I first wanted to do another one but that one was already chosen. Then I saw this one and I knew where it was located and nobody else had taken it already. The mural is below a viaduct so there are two sides. On one side you can see a kind of aliens or floating humans that are floating to a kind of lake with blue green water in it. On the other side you can see a whale man. It is half man and half wale. The head part of the whale man is whale and the part of the legs is man with heart underpants. On the outside of the viaduct you can see a mixture of a lot of different colours. Dave de Leeuw and Vincent Lancee are both Dutch artists. Dave de Leeuw likes to make artworks that attract people. He made a lot of different murals in a lot of different cities. He also made an exhibition for Schunk that was very popular for a lot of people. Vincent Lancee likes to make artworks for people who live extremely. Vincent Lancee himself also had a quite extreme life. Like Dave de Leeuw, Vincent Lancee also made a lot of different murals in a lot of different cities. But they aren't the only ones who worked on this mural. When I was in group 7/8 of the primary school we could help with this mural. We were allowed to throw some Christmas balls filled with paint against the wall of the viaduct. This is also written in the description of this mural on the street art app. The project of this mural is 'kleur onderweg' and they started with this mural in 2013. This mural has to represent the connection between humans, animals and the universe. I think it is a pretty weird mural. Because normally I don't just see a whale man on the street. And I think murals are there to decorate the city and not make it weird. Most parts of this mural I dislike. I do like it a bit because I helped to make this mural. This mural is was finished three years ago and a lot of people have already drawn on it or some parts have already fallen off and things like that. That makes the mural uglier than it already was. And I don't really get the message. I think it doesn't really represent what the artists said to us. I don't think this is a very popular mural. Only the people that live in that neighbourhood or that go to the primary school over there will know it I think. Because it is pretty close to the city but not close enough that people will pass it when they go to the city. I think people don't really have to see this mural. Because it isn't very special or something like that and when you see it on a picture for me it would be enough.

“STER TABAK”

BY QUENTIN

The mural was originally made in 1917 and was later repainted by the organization “Teekens aan de wand”. It is called Niemeyer’s Ster Tabak because it used to be an advertisement from a cigarette company that no longer exists, the company was called Niemeyer’s Ster Tabak. It was repainted in 2017 august. It’s located in Heerlen at the Sittarderweg street number 81. I didn’t really chose it but it is a very interesting mural to write about, now I know about the organization Teekens aan de wand and I find it pretty cool that they reconstruct murals that are old. It also is kind of cool that it is a reconstruction of an old mural which was a commercial from the early 20th century so now I know what it looks like. The mural is basically an advertisement for a cigarette company and it shows prices of the boxes of cigarettes and it has a picture of a cigarette box. The original person(s) who painted it aren’t known and it was later restored by Teekens aan de wand and it was originally made in 1917 and repainted in August 2017. In my opinion it is at one point cool to see how murals looked in the 20th century. In conclusion: The mural is a reconstruction of an advertisement made in 1917 which was for cigarettes from a brand named Niemeyer’s Ster Tabak and the company is currently out of business. On the advertisement you can see a painting of a cigarette box and the prices of other cigarette boxes and I personally find the mural cool the way it looks and that it’s from the 20th century so we know how advertisements used to look in the late 1910s.

“A MIRACLE ELIXER”

BY JOAH

A Miracle Elixer is created by Case Maclaim. It is painted on a house in the Kruisstraat number 51. Located in Heerlen, The Netherlands. It is painted in 3D and made with spray. The real name of the creator of the painting is Andreas von Chrzanowski, he is an German artist and is member of the Maclaim Crew. The street art is made in 2014. The painting is made out of a lot of colours but the main colour is green. It is a man holding a snake by its head. He is trying to get the venom out of the snake. He puts the venom in a glass. It’s made in a big street, on a big house in front of a parking spot. Next to the building where the painting was painted,

is a museum where buildings were dug up that where

standing in 753 bc. I chose this painting because I thought that it was really cool. I really like animals so snakes as well. I thought the colour combination was really good too. I only didn’t really like the location because there aren’t a lot people that see this mural . I would rather put it in a place where lots of people come. I would not like it painted on my house because then there are people going to look at my house and then you have less privacy. I think other people like the painting too because it is really well painted and the quality is also very good. Only it is a pity that you can’t really see the colours that good anymore because the colours are a bit faded. I would definitely go there if had not done so yet.

“NO NAME”

BY REMCO

This artwork, located in Heerlen, is created by Eelco van den Berg and it doesn’t have a name. I chose it because it is close to my home and I like the colours. The mural looks like a big painting made with a lot of simple shapes like squares, circles and triangles. He also used a lot of vibrant colours and you can see different animals in the painting. This mural was painted in 2015 as part of the Heerlen mural project. It is painted by Eelco van den Berg, a Dutch artist. He began his career by writing graffiti. When he came to Bushwick, Brooklyn in 2012 it all changed. He noticed a unique mixture of construction and landscape. He decided to go to the USA for two months in 2014. But in 2013 he changed his style of painting. First, he used a lot of letters but this changed in 2013 when he was faced with disappointing results. He realized the letters were blocking him and so he started with this new style that you can see on the picture. He didn’t have many contracts but a year later he was discovered in Germany and he was quickly booked with mural requests. Most of his work stands out with a strong use of colours, motives and outlines. He belongs to the top 10 New York Street Artists in 2015 under the name Virus. I personally really like this artwork because of the vibrant colours and the looks of it. But one thing I dislike about it is the location of it, it is painted on the side of an old house and if you drive by it is difficult to see the drawing. So, this artwork by Eelco van den Berg, doesn’t have a name and was painted in 2015 as part of the Heerlen mural project. You should go and see this mural because it looks really impressive.

“REFLEXION OF ONESELF”

BY MARNIX

The artwork is made by Francisco Rodrigues da Silva aka Nunca which stands for ‘never’ in Portuguese and is called Reflexion of oneself. It’s located at the parallelweg 1, 6411 NA Heerlen, The Netherlands and is made in the year 2016. I have chosen this artwork because it’s close to my home and I just like the style in which it is painted. For me it looks like an Native American who is looking at himself in a mirror and asking himself, who am I? In my opinion it also looks really nice and I like the style of the painting. Also it covers the boring grey building with something a bit more colourful but not too much. Francisco Rodrigues da Silva was born in Sao Paulo and started his career at the age of 12 as a member of a gang spraying pichações. He first painted on walls in the poor eastern neighbourhood of Sao Paulo where his family lived. He developed his own style, a mix of colours and lines putting together Brazilian traditions. When the family moved, he developed an interest for graffiti. In 2008 he was invited for an street art exhibition in London. The mural itself was made in 2016 and it represents strength of purpose and unwilling to be restricted. The image holds a mirror up to our world in which the fate of the native Brazilian is key as opposed to the increasingly dominant western civilisation, symbolised by the airplane. In my opinion it’s a really nice artwork I only don’t like the fact that it’s so cramped into the corner but that’s my opinion. I also like his way of painting and that he put a message in it. So I think it's really nice to see and it makes the city look better. I really recommend it to visit the art work if you are not really far away from it and think which message you can get out of it.

“NO NAME”

BY BRAM

The mural I chose was made on the Nieuw Eyckholt weg in Heerlen. It is made by James Jetlag and it does not have a name. I chose this mural because I am a cyclist and it is on my way home from school, so I see it every day. The mural is located under a bridge and has two sides. One side shows a cyclist from Etixx Quickstep and the other side shows you Mine workers in the mine. In Dutch there is written. ‘Witste nog, koempel…’ This means. Do you still remember, Mine worker. This is made there to show the mine history of this area. The south of Limburg had a big mine history with mines in Heerlen. The cyclist represents the cycling in the area around Heerlen. There are a few cycling events in Limburg, ‘Limburg mooiste’ starts in Heerlen and the Amstel gold race starts in Limburg. This mural was made during a project to decorate the viaducts under the N281. There were 5 viaducts which were decorated. The project started in 2012 and ended in 2014 and was called ‘Kleur onderweg Heerlen’. The murals were made by James Jetlag and Lars Ickenroth and with cooperation of schools in the area. The Mural is made by James Jetlag. His real name is Martin Plag. He is 27 years old and already has 20 years of experience. He is from Eygelshoven and now has a company in Heerlen. With his company he makes graffiti paintings on children’s bedroom walls for example. He also made the new poster for Carnaval 2018. I really like this mural because it is very well made. I like the things he put into the mural and it makes riding, cycling or walking through this tunnel much nicer. I really like the cyclist and the text next to the mineworkers. I do not have anything I do not like about this mural. I think the artist did a really great job. It looks very professional with lots of details. It is very interesting to look at. So the mural is a made by James Jetlag and is made in 2012 on the Nieuw Eyckholt weg in Heerlen. It is built for a project called ‘Kleur onderweg’. I think you should really go and see the mural because it is made very well and if you are on bike or on foot from the region of Voerendaal then you can pass by the mural every time you come to Heerlen and there is a big chance that you will see something you didn’t see the last time. So I think you definitely need to see this mural.

“A ROMAN HISTORY”

BY YANNICK

This artwork was created by James Jetlag, a street artist from Eygelshoven, a place in The Netherlands. It says “A Roman history and nature/landscape’’, because it shows a timeline of the city of Heerlen, where the artwork is located, and the landscape of the Dutch province of Limburg. I chose it because I already liked it when I saw it for the first time, because I like the history of Heerlen and the landscape of Limburg. I see the mural as an artwork that shows the pride of Heerlen and Limburg. In my opinion, it is a great artwork, especially when you show it to people that don’t know the city. The artist James Jetlag (also known as ‘’The Lazer’’ or ‘’Jiggy Jetlag’’) made several murals in Limburg, both private and commissioned by a city council. The mural I’m writing about was a proposal from a project called ‘’Kleur Onderweg’’. This project was set up by the province of Limburg to hide the ugly mass of grey concrete in city of Heerlen, and this summer they will also start painting in Roermond. They started painting in Heerlen in 2012. I’m not a big fan of street art, but this one is an exception. When I saw it for the first time I already liked it. I really like the city of Heerlen and this painting shows the timeline of Heerlen from the Roman time until nowadays. I also like it because it shows the hilly scenere of Limburg during the summer and during the winter. The mural also shows 4 animals from this area which are drawn on puzzle pieces: a pheasant, a wild hamster that is called the ‘’korenwolf’’ in the province, a badger & a kingfisher with a little fish in his beak. Another thing I like about it is the fact that the mural is located under a bridge. The Roman part and the natural part are both on another side of the tunnel. Because the sun never shines on the artwork, it is nicer to look at it. I also like the style of the painting, it is very difficult to describe, but you could say it’s a mix of an abstract and a ‘’classical’’ painting style. A thing I don’t like about the painting is the fact that the bottom of the painting is very dirty of all the mud that flows to it. To draw a conclusion, I can say I like the painting very much. I only had one negative thing about the mural, so that should mean I just really like it. I ensure everyone who reads this and hasn’t seen the mural yet: Go and see it! It is great and I really recommend everyone to see it. You should see it because it gives you a first impression of Heerlen/Limburg. The best way to look at the painting is by going on a bike to Heerlen. If you’re not from the city or this area, rent a bike and make a bike tour through the beautiful city of Heerlen!

â&#x20AC;&#x153;SWINGING BIRDSâ&#x20AC;?

BY JILL

The mural is called Swinging birds, Collin van der Sluijs painted this mural. The address is Morenhoek 1, Heerlen. I like the fantasy in the painting and all the different colours. The birds are dancing on the space dancefloor. The faces of the 2 birds are combined with the body of a human. In the painting a lot of colour transition is found, which I like a lot. The space floor and the battle mover are from the 80's. Collin van der Sluijs was born on 13 May 1980. He has been familiar with graffiti from the age of 11 years. His traditional painting techniques and various carriers have been developed at the art school in Goes. He learned a lot of theory and his interest in art at a young age has already grown a lot. He graduated and studied for 4 years in Boxtel, he graduated again and studied 4 years in Breda. After he graduated at the art academy in Breda he went to the South of The Netherlands where he lives. He works on projects and exhibitions. He has just finished a project in Leuven next to The Abdij. He painted visitors in the form of birds on a bridge. He did this for 2 weeks. His own art style still shows street style but at the same time tells a story with a lot of imagination. The work from Collin van der Sluijs has been publicized in several countries. The mural Swinging birds was made in 2013. I do not like the style of painting with the combination of street style and imagination. I do like the colours he used. The fantasy in the painting I do like a lot. I do like the mural, but I would not recommend someone to go and see the painting. I have seen a lot of murals in cities and towns which are much more interesting to me than Swinging birds. Collin van der Sluijs is a painter who inspires himself with his own fantasy. I do like that, because he has a lot of talent, not everyone can tell a story in a painting.

“ALAS! HOW PITIFUL” BY PIENE

The mural I have chosen is alas! How pitiful made by Faith47. The mural’s location is on the Coriovallum Street 7. I have chosen it because it is different from the other murals in Heerlen and I have walked so many times passed the mural and I have never seen it. Faith47 was born in 1979 in Cape Town. She began to paint in 1997 and now she is one of the most famous artists in South Africa where she lives now with her boyfriend. She is also one of the most famous female artists in the world. Her murals are speaking to females and Third World issues and she uses females as angels, lady liberty and African mothers with children on theirs back. She makes the murals on places where everyone walks by but no one sees it. Her paintings are sometimes religious while she is not. Faith47 has also written several books: her most famous one is called Faith47. You can see the mural on a house. In the mural you can see a Madonna and a wolf. The wolf has a swan in its mouth. The Madonna has an eye that is crying on the place of her heart and it looks like the Madonna is praying. I think the Madonna is a kind of lady liberty or an angel. The Madonna has also a bell and a key. The artist makes at first a rough sketch and then goes to the place where she is going to paint. The place where she is going to paint, she looks for elements or materials for in her sketch. It could be that the Madonna was inspired by the Christ sculpture around the corner at Tempsplein. You can also see in this mural that the paint isn’t between the ‘lines’, she does that with all her murals. This mural was made in 2013. I like and dislike the mural, I like it because it is different from other murals and she looks for elements in the area around the place where she is going to paint. I also like the Madonna in the mural. I dislike the wolf with the swan in his mouth, I think it is creepy. I think you should go and see this mural if you like some cooler stuff. I knew nothing about murals and about this artist and now I think that she is a really strong woman and that more people in other places should take the time to look at those murals not only to the ones of faith47 but also to other ones from other people because I only know the story behind the murals of Faith47 and so many other artist have meanings behind their painting. Anyway, I think that Faith47 has done a really good job and this mural is just amazing. But I still think that the wolf with the swan in his mouth is creepy.

“SHRIMPI-SPISS”

BY KEANU

Its name is SHRIMPI-SPISS. It was made by HNRX (AUT). You can find it at Eikenderweg 131 on a wall obviously. I didn’t really choose it, Mr Van Roekel chose it for me. It was made in February 2017. It depicts a Shrimp Spiss piercing through a pickle it doesn’t really have a purpose it’s just for fun. HNRX there is not much known of him only that he makes street art for fun just to spread a laugh as he said himself. I think it’s cool and funny but it doesn’t depict something funny or trending. Personally it’s not that big but it’s kind of cool I personally think it would be funnier if it was something trending, Obviously I did visit this mural and took the selfie sadly. You should visit this Mural but I think you’ll pass it and not notice until you actually have an eye for that kind of stuff or you’re looking for it.

“L’ETRANGER”

BY GIJS

The stranger is made by the Brazilian Pandolfo twins : Os Gêmeos. The name they gave the mural was L’etranger but in the Netherlands we call it ‘The stranger’. The location of the mural is at the Schelmenhofje which is a small square near the Pancratius square. I chose the mural because I knew it was there and I also knew the artists already as The stranger was part of the Cultura Nova openings act in 2008. L’etranger is a man who looks really strange with his pants pulled up really high and with holes in it. The man doesn’t wear socks and/or shoes. His head is quite wide and doesn’t have a normal head length. His nose is really big and his eyebrows are straight. The stranger has his left arm stretched out and his right arm along his body. The strangers have more of these murals all around the world like New York, Berlin and Miami. The twins’ artist name is Os Gêmeos, which is Portugese for The Twins. They are born in 1974 in São Paulo, Brazil. The brothers started working with graffiti with an age of only 13. ‘De vreemdeling’ was part in the Cultura Nova openings act in 2008, as you see on the picture. Cultura Nova is an music, arts and theatre festival in and around Heerlen. During the show, the stranger came to life as a balloon character. This openings act was one of the most spectacular ones in the Cultura Nova history. In my opinion ‘The stranger’ is the best mural in Heerlen, because it’s so big and everybody recognizes it. And it’s great because such big artist come to the Netherlands to make a very famous type of mural. The thing I most like is that it is not really realistic, which most of the murals in Heerlen are. The only thing I don’t like that much is the location. The location is at a quiet part of Heerlen where not that many people see it, ‘The stranger’ deserves a better place than the Schelmenhofje. Everyone should go and see this mural made by Os Gêmeos. It’s not only a great mural, it’s also great that it’s made by one of the most famous artists on the entire world. It’s a great honour to see Heerlen next to names like Hong Kong, Paris, Berlin, New York, Miami, Milan and San Fransisco.

“NOISE BARRIER”

BY TOM

This is my report of the artwork I chose for my English assignment, I really enjoyed looking for the artwork and seeing it, knowing it is one of the longest continuous graffiti art projects of the world. Before I saw this location on the Street Art app, I didn’t even know it is an artwork, but after a closer look I saw how beautiful it actually is. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a lot information about this artwork because most people in Aachen don’t see this artwork as something special. This artwork is called “KOOL SOULS ON WALLS”. It is made by various artists, including the regionally known artists Kay Shröder and Il-Jin Choi. It is located against the noise barrier of a railway line in Aachen, which I think is one of the best places to make an artwork, because I think the railway represents kind of an urban feeling. I chose this artwork, because I wanted to know more about it and because I think it is something very special. “KOOL SOULS ON WALLS” is a 1km long graffiti artwork located against the noise barrier of a railway in Aachen. Even though it is created by a lot of different artists, I think everything on it represents the weirdness of street art and how artist think different. To me it seems like the artists feel like they don’t belong anywhere and want to be with their own ‘people’. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the artists on social media or internet, so I can’t really add information with this one. The project “KOOL SOULS ON WALLS” has started on the 18th of August and was presented on the 31st of August. In my opinion this artwork is very underrated, also my first thoughts were: ‘this probably won’t be that special, because I have never heard of it.’ But I was totally wrong, not only the fact that the art piece has a total length of around 1km makes it special, but also how beautiful everything is painted and how nice it looks all together. But, I also think the mural has some bad points. I think the colors are quite sad and the mural isn’t well maintained. So, this was my report about “KOOL SOULS ON WALLS” as I said I really enjoyed making this and I think it made me have more respect for the artists who made this. I really liked this artwork, as it is located at a good spot, made very beautiful and is 1km long (!). I think everybody who lives in/near Aachen should go out and look for some graffiti and just think about what it would mean and what would be the story behind the artwork. If you live in or near Aachen I would really recommend to give it a chance and just go out and view it, because it is definitely worth it.

“S NACHTS OP HET STRAND”

BY SEM

Ox Alien, an artist from Rotterdam, painted a big graffiti painting. This painting is called ‘s nachts op het strand and it was painted on June 17 at the backside of the Griffel, a primary school on the Heldevierlaan 4 in Heerlen. I chose this mural, because it looked nice to me and it is full of colours. Since the 1st of January 2000, Ox Alien is an artist from the Lastplak collective. Lastplak is a collective with artists that all are related to street art. They work in groups or as an individual. They make murals and much more things. It doesn’t matter where they need to paint. They have painted on rooftops, walls etc. Lastplak has nine members and all nine have their own style. Ox alien’s style is making aliens with one round shaped eye and one eye like a cross. First they called Ox alien’s paintings Ox aliens, but now his artist name is Ox alien. He started with Graffiti in the 1980s, but in 2000 he began to make real street art and now he even collaborates with the shoe brand Vans off the Wall. He painted a lot on the walls in Rotterdam, but he doesn’t only paint in Rotterdam, where he lives. Also in Heerlen like ‘s nachts op het strand and in Thailand last year. He was asked to paint the walls for the Pattaya Arts Festival in Thailand with one of his friends, Edo Rath. He also helped Ox Alien with 's nachts op het strand, which they have worked on three whole days. The mural represents a lot of small stories and of course is made with the aliens with the Ox eyes. On the mural you see an island with a lot of aliens. The island is surrounded with water, as usual. In the water there are octopuses like aliens. On the land are a lot of different aliens and also a tree where a rainbow is going through. I noticed that a rainbow in the night is not possible, because there is no light from the sun to make the rainbow with. There is also a cactus on the beach and a beach ball. The beach ball is very close to the cactus and when it gets a little bit closer it will leak. In the horizon you see a skyline of a big city, with big buildings. I found it difficult to see the little stories represented in the mural, but I still found two. When I know all the stories I would like the mural even more I think. I like the mural, because it has a lot of colours what I already said. I also like the style of Ox alien. His paintings don’t look very difficult to make, but when I need to make them myself I think I couldn’t do that. Ox alien also paints in a cartoon style that I really like. I think you should visit this mural, although you are not allowed to cross the fence to look closer at the mural.

“ODE TO THE WORKER”

BY EVI

I am going to tell you about a great piece of art in Heerlen, a mural by artist Super A, that is called ‘Ode to the worker’. You can find it on the wall of Spoorsingel 46, right across the bus-station. I did not choose the mural myself, but I am very happy with the mural that was assigned to me, because it is beautiful and it represents a period in the history of my city Heerlen. On the mural you see a large wheel. Such wheels were used in the coal mines to move the lift that brought workers down to the mine and back up. In the wheel on the right side you see a small picture of a mine. Also you see a canary. That bird was of life importance to the workers. They always took a canary down into the mines to detect dangerous gasses like mine gas (causes explosions) and carbon monoxide (a lethal gas). The canaries already died with very small amounts of gas, so when the canary dropped dead, the workers knew they had to leave the mine immediately. On the left side you see a mineworker, with a helmet and a lamp on his head. He turns his face towards the light, which represents hope for the future. In front of the wheel you see two joined hands. They represent the brotherhood and unity between the mine workers. They needed each other down there in the mines. On the wheel you see four people, two men and a boy and a girl. These are real existing people, living in the Eastern Mine Region (Heerlen is the center of this region). The artist used real people because he wanted to show several generations of workers in the region, so the people who built this area back then in the coal mines and the people who are still building this area today. Super A’s real name is Stefan Thelen and he comes from Goes (Zeeland). He was born in 1981. He has made more murals in Heerlen, like the piñata camera that is 50 meters to the left of the mine mural. Also he made another mural with a canary on Honigmannstraat. Super A first studied to be a painter of advertisements. After that he went to the Graphic Lyceum in Rotterdam. After his study he went to work in a decorating studio, where he made large wall paintings and other art. He is also a sculptor and a street artist, but he is mostly known for his murals. You can find them in several cities all over the world. In his art he uses modern techniques and graphic design, but also traditional painting techniques. He also makes oil paintings and 3dimensional art. Stefan himself sees Super A as a anti-hero, someone who can say and show things that Stefan can’t do. He makes very realistic paintings. Often they are critical about things that happen in society and in politics. The works show his confusion about the world. This mural is a very special one. Most murals in Heerlen were ordered by the municipality, but this was a gift from the trade union FNV to the city of Heerlen, because of the Year of the Mines in 2015. In that year it was 50 years ago that the mines were closed and the FNV wanted to thank all the people that worked so hard in the mines. The mural is a sign of respect to the unity and friendship between mine workers. I like the mural very much. I like the realistic way it is painted in and it brings a beautiful message. It shows respect to the people who built our city, risking their lives with it. Also I like all the details. It is a quite dark and grey painting (I like the colorful murals most), but that is because it depicts the coal mines, who were black. If you want to learn about the history of Heerlen, this is one of the murals you should see. A beautiful, realistic mural that shows how important friendship is when you work together. When you visit the murals in Heerlen, you definitely should take a look at this one!

“KLEUR IS ONS WAPEN”

BY AMY

This beautiful piece of street art was made by a lot of local artists and they each wrote one letter. This painting is located in Heerlen city centre. I chose it because I thought it was very colourful and maybe had a nice meaning to it. The colours and textures are very well combined. And it’s a little bit all over the place but in a beautiful way and I like that about it. There were multiple artists who made this mural and they are all from the area were the mural was made. This mural was painted on the first indoor graffiti museum in the Netherlands and officially opened on 29th of May 2017, but in July 2017 they were already forced to move due to a leakage in the building. The mural says: colour is our weapon. They are expressing that the only way they can communicate and express their thoughts and feelings is through their art. Like so many artists they choose an artistic medium to reach a wide public. Graffiti, as we know it on buildings and bridges , has always been a way for the poor and supressed people to express themselves. To spray-paint buildings is in itself illegal, because it is not your property. People who do this anyway can be arrested. In this mural they have used a cartoon style of graffiti. In my opinion you should see this mural because it is very beautifully displayed on the wall . You could also visit the first indoor graffiti museum on the Geleenstraat in Heerlen.

“NO TITLE”

BY AIMÉE

The mural is made by the group of twelve men, called Lastplak. The mural has no title, which most of their work doesn’t have. It is located at Huskensweg 30 Heerlen. I chose this mural because it was really colourful and looked nice and it gave me a happy feeling when I saw it first.I think the mural looks very nice with bright colours and happy figures, it really did a good thing to the old grey building where they made it. Lastplak is a group of twelve artists, everyone has their own kind of artistic background. Lastplak is based in Rotterdam, they say that their goal is to paint, no matter what surface, size or location. Their work can be found all over the world, but mostly in Rotterdam because that’s where they come from. The word “ lastplak”, last comes from an annoying person, a pain in the ass, they say. And plak from what they say in Dutch “ plakken” to stick. So it actually means “annoying sticker.” Lastplak also makes art on small things that people can buy and sometimes they have a pop-up-store for a few days so people can buy those things. The mural itself has a lot of different colours and things on it like animals that don’t exist and it is very creative. The mural was made in 2011. I really like the mural because it makes me happy and smile. There are things on it that make you think in a good way and when you have a bad day you could go there to watch it and it makes you happier. I recommend to go there because you can walk there through the nature, it is hard to find but I think that makes it more fun.

“STRUGGLE”

BY TIM M

This mural is called Struggle. It is made by Cyrcle, a local artist near Heerlen. It is located near the police station in Heerlen. I chose this mural because it’s very well made but also because it’s nearby the Centre of the city and easy to get to. What I see in this mural is really stupid, but I see the incredible Hulk fighting a wild swine. It is very colourful and on the right side you can see the letter R. I think that the man fighting the swine represents a “Struggle”, just like the mural is called. In the background on the left side of the mural you can see some transparent characters. I think those represent the past of Heerlen since it was made to represent the times after the mines had just closed and a lot of men in Heerlen didn’t have a job, no way to feed their families. As a result of the mines closing a lot of people from Heerlen started to use drugs and to afford this the women had to go into prostitution. This mural reminds us that even during these bad times, we survived. The use of many colors and sketchy figures encourage us to never give up. Personally I don’t really like the use of this much colour although It does cheer the street up a little because for me it’s a bit too greyish. I do like the sketchy figures though, but I don’t really see the meaning of those transparent ones because you almost don’t see them, only if you take a really close look. I would also like to know what the “R” stands for. Cyrcle is a group of artists from Los Angeles (originally): David Leavitt, David Torres and Devin Liston. In 2012 they were asked to travel Europe to collaborate with artist JR. When they returned in the summer of 2012 Devin Liston decided to leave the group to focus on his own solo career. In September 2012 the duo painted one of the largest murals ever (11,000 square feet). This is located in Echo Park, Los Angeles. -Fun Fact- Cyrcle has collaborated with artist Pharrell Williams and have been featured in his 24hour music video for his song “Happy”. Cyrcle has made a total of 56 Artworks as a group. Struggle was made in 2014 and is located in the Stationstraat 13, Heerlen, near the police station. So if you ever walk past the police station, make sure you take a look at this beautiful mural and not just from a distance, but really take a very close look at this mural. I strongly recommend that you check it out and see the beautiful colour contrasts and see the amazing creation David Leavitt and David Torres gave our city to remind us of those bad times of unemployment, drugs and prostitution, but also to remind us to Never Give Up in hard times.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;UNTITLEDâ&#x20AC;?

BY LIEKE

This piece of art was made by Dazetwo and it is untitled, so it has no name. And is it located on: Promenade 26, Heerlen. I chose this mural because it liked that it was so small. And to be honest there was also not much left to choose đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x160;đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x160; When you look at the mural, you see six crows. I think they are building or renovating something, I think because of the traffic cones and the ribbon. it seems that they are all fighting a bit. One of the crows is dead, you can tell by the blood. There is no information about when the mural was made. But I do think it has been there for a couple of years because over time other people have sprayed graffiti next to it. I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find lots of information about the artist, I do know that his full name is Wesley van Heugten: alias Dazetwo. He has made a lot of birds in the city. The birds are not directly drawn on the wall but the birds are made out of paper. Each bird has his own personality and adventure. Wesley is an graffiti/street artist from Heerlen and was born on 6 march 1987. He started with street art 7 years ago. He tries to mix humour and problems in his work. and / or animals in human situations. I like that the mural is small, but I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really like the location and colours. It was very hard to find this mural, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been searching for 20 minutes. And I think it is a little confusing because it looks a little weird. And I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know the story behind it, and sadly it was not on the internet. I would not recommend people to go and see this. Only because it is not very special. If you walk by it is nice to take a minute and look at it but I would not go there just because of this mural. PS, we used one of Dazetwoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s other bird creations on the next page.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;CATCH THE BUTTERFLYâ&#x20AC;?

BY FEMKE

I am going to write about the mural called Catch the butterfly. It is made by an artist called Dzia. The address of the mural is Schakelweg 4, Heerlen. I chose this mural, because I really love foxes and both the butterfly and the fox look beautiful. I also like the way the fox and the butterfly are painted, it looks playful, colourful and I like the complex lines. The mural exist out of an orange fox looking up where the fox can see a butterfly flying just above his nose but just out of his reach. The fox isn't just orange bust it has a lot of coloured lines that give the fox a recognisable shape. The lines are black and white and different tones of orange. The background is black but it has some white stripes in it maybe to fill up the space. The artist who made this is Dzia, a Belgian artist who makes murals of animals. He has made a lot of murals of different animals but foxes and birds seem to be his favourite animals to paint. He paints the animals in urban areas, because nature versus urbanism is his trademark. Dzia has always been interested in art because he grew up in a very artistic family. His uncle was an artist and his whole family is very creative and eventually he studied a masters in fine art at the Royal Academy in Antwerp. After he graduated he wanted to place his art onto walls. He started focusing on developing his own unique and graphic style, using abstract and geometric lines. You can find his murals all over the world for example in China, Norway and of course the Netherlands. The mural catch the butterfly was made in 2016 and Dzia placed the mural here because he likes to give the animals their home, where they used to live before all the cities were build. I love this mural, I love the colours , the colours make the mural look happier and the fox and the butterfly both look beautiful. the fox looking up at the butterfly is nice in a Disney movie kind of way, very peaceful. There is nothing about this mural I dislike. I could look at this for hours, I also like the unusual way of how he painted it with all the very difficult looking lines, but even with all those difficult looking lines you can still recognise that it is a fox and a butterfly. So a short recap, I really like this mural, the colours and the way Dzia (the Belgian muralist/artist) painted this mural. I think the idea of giving wild animals back their habitat is nice. I also think it is kind of fascinating how someone's talents can be influenced if you grow up in an artistic family in this case. I think everybody should visit this mural , because first of all it is kind of close, so you don't have to travel a lot and I also think people should visit this because it looks really nice and very beautiful.

“CAPTURING THE MONSTER”

BY MILA

This mural wasn’t given a title, but someone on internet used the name Capturing the monster and I like it, so I’m just going to use that. I don’t know who gave the name otherwise I would have mentioned it. The mural is made by two artists: Roa and Resto. Roa made the monster and Resto made the people. It’s located in: Huisbergerstraat 12-14, 6413 VM Heerlen, Netherlands. I chose this mural because I like the art style and the drawing itself. On this mural you can see a monster, which I think looks like a wolf, getting captured by a lot of small people. At the site: streetartheerlen.nl there was mentioned that this mural looked a lot like a scene from Gulliver’s travels. So I googled it because I had no idea what Gulliver’s travels was. When I saw the pictures of a giant getting captured by lots of tiny humans, I immediately saw the resemblance. Also they painted one human with a red hat and some of the people in Gulliver’s travels also wear that kind of hat. Maybe it’s just a coincidence but I think that there is a pretty big chance that they used this tale, Gulliver’s travels, as their inspiration. As I said before this mural is made by two artists Roa and Resto, here’s a bit more information: Roa is a graffiti and street artist. All the paintings he makes are in the same style as the wolf. He comes from Ghent in Belgium and his murals can be found in lots of different places around the world. In opposition to Roa, Resto normally uses more colour and a different style. I couldn’t find anything about him except that he comes from Brussels in Belgium. About the mural itself is also not a lot of information. It is a mural from the exposition in Heerlen called ‘Lak aan Braak’. There were cycling tours you would cycle past a lot of murals. Capturing the monster is one of the few murals which has a sketch because the owner of the house wanted to know what was going to be painted on his house. The mural was made in 2011 (that’s when Lak aan Braak was held). I really like the mural, especially now that I know a bit more about it. I tried to think of things that I dislike but to be honest I don’t think there are any. I like the art style and the fact that it is black and white with only one coloured detail, which is the red hat from one of the people. So, Capturing the monster is a mural made by Roa and Resto in 2011. It is located in Heerlen and it might be based on Gulliver’s travels. I like the art style and the drawing itself. I think you should go see this mural but only if you like what’s being shown. If you don’t like it there’s really no point in going..

“NO TITLE”

BY JEROEN

This mural is made by Claudia Ethos, Claudia Ethos is a man from Brazil. The mural doesn´t have a name, it´s located at Laanderstraat 27. I choose this mural because I thought it looked very cool and it looks difficult to make. In the mural you can see a women holding another human with a sort of metal helmet on its head with a thin wire. The women looks like a clown, she has paint around her eyes, she also has strange hair, hair that people wore in the period of the sun kings. She has a yellow scarf around her neck. She holds the wire with two hands that are spread widely, one hand is high above the head and the other hand is curved a bit and close to the body. She also wears a shirt with a blue knight sign on it. The human with the helmet has a helmet with some kitchen tools on it: a knife, fork, coffee cups, spoon and a thing that you use to mix dough ingredients for a big cake. It also has two dices on its head with C and B on it, A and 3. It has a blue bandana with an ear image at the end. The head consist of different parts of a table where you have different layers for chocolate cream. It also has a rolling pin on the side. It has a polo on with a pen in the chest pocket. The human is meant to be a monochromatic humanoid character trying to fix an hybrid robot creature (the person with the helmet). The mural is made in 2015, I could not find any information about the artist Claudia Ethos. I like the mural because the idea of it is strange and I couldn’t guess it at first, I like that. Also the mural is made beautifully, I haven’t seen 1 mistake. So overall the mural is very nice and fun to go to, it’s not far away from the centre of Heerlen and easy to find, so why not.

“LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL”

BY MIK

This mural is made by Johan Moorman and it's called : Let the good times roll. It is located in Heerlen at the Burg. Van Grunsvenplein. I chose it because when you look at it there are so many things you probably did not notice before. I think that is very interesting, if you look at it a bit longer you can see all the dimensions. When I look at this mural, I see a lot of black on the left and a lot of colour on the right. I think what the artist means with "let the good times roll" , (based on the colours I see) is that things will get better eventually. There are so many dimensions and things are put upside down so randomly which is really interesting to me. The artist is Johan Moorman, he is 23 years old and travels the world to paint murals. Recently he was in Washington to paint his new mural called 'discovery', he was really excited about it because it was his first painting in the USA. He also sells some of his art work online on small canvases. About the mural; it was made in 2015 and it wasn't a regular mural. It was made for the charity 'Serious Request 2015'. The mining past of Heerlen also inspired him to make this, he wanted to give the city a bit more colour. It brightens up the whole Burg. Van Grunsvenplein. I personally really like this mural because of the many colours and dimensions. The only things I don’t like are the trees in front of it, it really blocks the view. I think it is nice to see this mural in real life, that’s the only way you can see it clearly ( because the trees disturb the picture). But I wouldn't travel hours for it, I personally don't think it's that special. If you want to see it you have to hurry. The building will be demolished before the year is over.

“HEERLEN HERON”

BY DETTA

The mural Heerlen Heron is made by a group of young entrepreneurs, who called their project ‘Tuupe zonder naam’. And is located at Carbon 6 (the old CBS-office) in Heerlen, which is next to the train tracks, so you pass it when you enter Heerlen by train. I have chosen this mural because I really liked the colours they used, and it shows some elements of Heerlen. The mural shows a heron that is painted in the colours black and white, who is ‘rising from the aches’, because Heerlen was known for her mines. Underneath they painted symbols and several elements that reflects the interesting history of the city. It shows everyday objects from the present as well as events that happened in the past. For example a Awacs-aeroplane, that refers to the attacks at the 11th of September, that is being attacked by a Roman sword, which stands for the city’s past as ‘Coriovallum’. And I really like the fact that they painted the heron in black and white and the rest of the painting in lighter colours, like yellow, green and red. I think the way of summarizing the not that nice history of the city, the decline after the closure of the mine, and the future perspective, is interesting too. Heerlen Heron is created by the ‘Tuupe Zonder Naam’, a group of about 15 anonymous entrepreneurs, creative people and real Heerlen lovers, who showed their pride by making this mural. They called the project ‘Tuupe Zonder Naam’. I guess they were tuupen who couldn’t come up with a name for their project. The main creators are Dave de Leeuw and Vincent Lancee. The residents were very enthusiastic about the ideas of the group entrepreneurs. And in no time they collected 12.000 euros, enough for the project. They started the project on the 10th of October and the mural was presented on the 30th of October 2016. Overall I think it is a really nice and symbolic mural. And I like the name of the group creators. I definitely recommend you to go and see the Mural because I think it is just really nice. Although I did think it was smaller than I expected it to be. But still worth the visit.

“LENTE”

BY DANTE

When I got this assignment I thought oh no, I don’t know anything about art so I decided to contact him. I looked up Does and asked him for some information about his artwork in Heerlen on which he responded only a few hours later. He send me a link that told the complete idea behind this mural. Digital Does, or his real name Does, was born in 1982 in a little town called Veghel. When he was fourteen he started painting graffiti on walls and even then he was already recognized for his use of the dizzying choice of colours and his clean eye for detail. Aged 28, he became an international artist making murals in Columbia, Argentina, Belgium and a lot more to name. In October 2017, Does created a cement base on an office building here in Limburg. Does’ talent is to paint on that cement sticking out of the wall. This unique way of painting he used with this mural as well. I had never seen this before and found out this weird texture when taking the picture. The name, Lente is the direct translation of spring, the season of new beginnings that he got inspired by. Even though it looks like a very simple mural it took him almost two months’ time to finally finish it because of the cement that had to dry for around 2.5 weeks. For me, the cement base is what completed this mural because the graffiti isn’t something I haven’t seen before on another painting or mural. When you rub your hands over the wall you could really feel the rough cement sticking out of the wall. To me it also deserves a better location as there aren’t many people who get to see it now. Usually Does makes really visible murals, like in a skate park or in a city centre. Lente is in a parking lot of an office building, close to the train track. So not quite visible. My conclusion is that this is a really nice mural and also a mural I would stand in front of and inspect for a couple of minutes. This isn’t something I have quite often since I am not really a fan of art. So I think Does did a really good job on this and I will check out his social media from now on quite often.

“NO BOUNDARIES”

BY LÛKE

This mural is created by 1010, and is called No boundaries. It is located in Heerlen in the Plaarstraat. I chose this mural because I like the colours and how it looks kind of 3D. As you can see, the mural has different colours, and because there are black stripes between the colours it looks like it is 3D. In the middle is a big purple stripe and it looks like it is crooked. But when you see it in real life you can see that it is actually a straight line. So they worked with different shades of purple to make it look like it is crooked which is nice. To me, if you look from a distance, it looks like a big window with coloured slats in front of the window. The upper ones are opened. In the middle you can see the window and the lower slats seem to be closed. When I went there it was faded, but when it was created, there was a small drawing underneath it. This mural was created by 1010, and he had some help by an artist called Pablo Delgado. They created this in 2015. 1010 is a street artist since 2009, he made another mural in Heerlen, called Abyss. First, I thought it was a bit boring. But then I did some research and I found out it has a little mural underneath. I immediately thought it was much more interesting, because it looks like it has a story behind it. The little drawing underneath it is a family sitting at the dinner table and the colour that is the closest to the ground is leaking in a teapot. The woman that is standing next to it is holding a bucket with orange stuff in it, which was leaking on the ground. I also thought that they just made a crooked line in the middle, because on the internet it looks like it is just a line, but when I went to see the mural and looked closer I found out that the line is actually straight and they made it look like it was crooked by using different shades and the colour black. That makes this mural much more interesting than it looks at first sight. So, I really liked the mural, because of the colours and the effect the black stripes have. And if you look very closely, you can still see the little drawing. But you have to look closely because it is not as clear as the rest of the mural. I think you should go and see it, because it is very nice how they worked with only a few colours and still they managed to make It an interesting whole. If you look closely and see the little drawing of Pablo Delgado it is much nicer because you don't know what the story behind it is, so you can think of your own story.

“ABYSS BY TIMO

The mural I chose is made by the street artist 1010 who is known for his mysterious 3D portal like paintings. It is made in Heerlen near the bus and train station. I chose it because it’s near my house. The name of the mural is ABYSS. The mural itself is a very big painting: it has different colours and looks like a crack in the wall, a sort of cave in a wall of a building. 1010 works not only in the Netherlands, also a lot in Germany and even in Japan. 1010 has made approximately 32 murals since 2008. He made his first drawing in 1994, he got into graffiti during high-school and he followed an extra art class because of it. He got into art by some video games when he was young. He got his name from a photographer who called his work ‘1010’ 1010 really liked this name and I agree with him. The mural I chose was created in 2015, he started in 2014 with making a design. It was one of the first murals that he made in the Netherlands. He said it’s supposed to represent human society because every mural he has ever made ends with black at the end and that’s what human society is like as well, it ends in darkness. My opinion on the mural is that it looks really awesome and it does indeed represent human society in my opinion. I like the colours he used with the mural: Purple, Yellow, Orange, Blue and Black. Also I live near it and every time after school when I cycle home I see it and I just think to myself how is it possible something looks this real but it’s just paint. I don’t really like that the mural is situated in a sort of closed area (where it is located it’s not always open because of the fences around it, and the gate has to be opened as well) but overall I have more positive things to say about it then I have negative things to say. So that’s a good job from 1010. I think you should definitely see this mural sometime… why? Because it’s really impressive how someone can make something like this. I have no words for how cool I think it is. So I would really go see it if you have some free time and if you’re nearby.

Heerlen is also available on Street Art Cities, the first global platform for cities to share their amazing collection of murals with you. You can find murals in Heerlen, but also in 22 other fantastic cities like Paris, Melbourne and Los Angeles. Curious? Download the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Street Art Citiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; app now!