Hands mural brightens school

WHAT was once a dreary, grey wall at Bertrams Junior School in Greater Ellis Park is now a vibrant, attractive mosaic mural, made of ordinary colourful marble tiles.


The mural, which depicts hands, was made by staff at the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and finished by the 150 pupils at the school, under the supervision of the Spaza Gallery.

Measuring 9m2 in size, the mural was inspired by the Mandela Day initiative, driven by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the 46664 Campaign and held on 18 July, Mandela's birthday. The school shares a birthday with the great statesman, Nelson Mandela.

Mandela Day was held to forever celebrate the sacrifices he made for peace and reconciliation in South Africa. It involved taking 67 minutes in the day to do something for the good of humanity and the planet, in recognition of the 67 years Mandela devoted to liberating South Africa.

The individual vivid artworks were joined together to form a panel, which was fixed on the school's wall.

The mosaic mural is one of many public artworks in the area developed by the JDA. It joins, among others, the cows in Transport Square and another mosaic, depicting a scene from the Battle of Ellis Park, sparked by the 1922 Miners' Strike. It is on the wall of the last house on Bertrams Road.

Perfect gift
Speaking at the unveiling of the mural on 3 November, the school's principal, Khanyi Twala, thanked the sponsors for the art. "The mosaic wall is a perfect and thoughtful gift," she said. "I hope the magic hands will inspire us and the next generation to come."

It was an essential vision that would bring change to the lives of many pupils.

Lael Bethlehem, the chief executive of the JDA, pledged to support the school in many ways. "It is very important for us as the JDA to invest in the community that resides in the area through facilities and skills development.

"We are equally honoured that our professional teams chose to partner with us in this respect," Bethlehem said.

The agency has worked on a number of recent developments in Greater Ellis Park towards the goal of establishing a sustainable, world-class sports precinct that will be a destination of choice for sport and recreation.

While working in the area, it committed its 2008/9 corporate social investment budget to Bertrams Junior School and Troyeville Primary School. It has contributed towards the schools through cash donations, professional fees, labour and materials.

Park
Ros Greeff, the member of the mayoral committee for development planning and urban management, gave the keynote address at the unveiling. She encouraged the learners to make use of Bertram's Park, a few blocks from the school.

"I hope this provides many outings for the pupils at the schools through the years."

The playground at the Bertrams school is not big enough, and many of the learners are unable to run freely at playtime.

Using the opportunity that the day presented, the Mandela Foundation and the Atterbury Property Developers' Foundation also donated books to the school's library.

Londeka Tshwala, a Grade 4 learner who participated in the project, described the mosaic as a wonderful piece of art. "It was an exciting project because we were shown how to make the hands using mosaics. If it was not for Spaza Gallery there would have been nothing on the wall."

Kanita Ebrahim, another learner, said she was delighted to have participated in the project. "I love the artwork; it is beautiful," she said.

Origins
Bertrams Junior School opened on 18 July 1918 and the first learners filled its classrooms a few days later. Initially a Jewish day school, in the 1960s it became a Portuguese school when Portuguese-speaking immigrants from the colonies of Mozambique and Angola, as well as people from Madeira and Portugal, settled in the neighbourhood.

Although Bertrams became a so-called grey area in the 1980s, with the suburb made up of both black and white residents, black children were not allowed to attend the school, which was reserved for white children. This was all changed in 1994, with the first democratic elections.

Today Bertrams Junior School has more than 200 learners, most of them coming from impoverished families living in Bertrams and the neighbouring suburb of Judith's Paarl.

Spaza Gallery is a non-profit organisation that provides a showcase for artists of all types from all over South Africa. Situated in the nearby suburb of Troyeville, it is a community gallery that runs mosaic workshops, has Sunday lunches, music sessions and shows.

Troyville School
After the unveiling of the mosaic at the Bertram’s school, the JDA team moved on to the Troyeville Primary School where a donation of books was made.

The JDA committed it’s 2008/9 Corporate Social Investment budget to the two schools.

Over the past year the JDA has assisted Troyeville Primary School, which was in desperate need of renovation and repairs.

Some R265 000 was spent on its refurbishment, including maintenance and repairs in the staff room, passage area, kitchen, reception, store room, as well as painting.

A number of JDA partners took part in assisting the school, with the Atterbury Property Developers’ Foundation donating R100 000 towards the project.

Article :by Rudo Mungoshi
Source:http://www.jda.co.za/2009/04nov_betramschool.stm