Street Art à Rennes

What is art and how does it reflect or define a culture?

This week students are exploring the theme of creativity.  Students are using their growing language skills to express opinions as they explore topics including music, traditional Breton dance,  and Street Art.  

Today students were taken on a tour by two street artists in Rennes, who discussed with the students the culture surrounding urban art.  Students were introduced to works by different Rennais artists like Heol and WAR! and they learned how each artist has a different voice that is portrayed in their work.

Before the activity some students shared how in America street art is more a form of vandalism and is often vulgar--they did not like it at all.  After our tour their opinions changed because they saw it more as a form of expression of the culture surrounding it as well as each individual artist.  They enjoyed seeing the creativity of the different works--some are simple while others have very complicated compositions.

After learning about the different Rennais street artists, our students had a lot of fun creating their own work of art.  They worked to express their own individuality and style through the medium of spray paint, which proved to be more difficult than they had anticipated.  After this experience they said they have a new appreciation for the talent and skill required to create such works.  A very educational and fun day!