Street art at school

With more than 15 years of experience, the Ariana association works to promote the socio-cultural integration of young people through urban art, in the overseas departments and beyond. In Saint Martin, it is already in its fifth edition of Mix'Art, and this year again, many schools are taking part, including the Émile Choisy, Hervé Williams and Aline Hanson schools, as well as the Mont des Accords and Roche Gravée secondary schools — representing around 22 groups of pupils from primary to secondary school. The principle remains the same: a whole day per group to discuss living together, then learn about street art techniques: lettering, stencilling, spray painting, etc. The result is nearly 40 canvases created by the pupils themselves, exhibited directly in the corridors of the participating schools.

Art as a means of expression 

Mix'Art does more than just introduce young people to urban art. Each workshop begins with a group discussion on citizenship, anchoring the approach in a fundamental reflection. Art then becomes a shared language, accessible to all, for expressing what words alone sometimes cannot. It is also an opportunity for many students to discover street art as something other than just graffiti on a wall — to understand its codes, history and expressive potential. To guide them, the Ariana association draws on local artists such as Espa and Tibo, who bring local urban culture to life on a daily basis. Espa, who has been working with Mix'Art for five years, describes each workshop as an improvisation match: in the morning to learn the techniques, in the afternoon to produce two finished works. The results, he says, are often impressive — and some students, whom he meets years later, still show him the drawings they have never stopped making.

One project, one network of partners 

Behind the project is a network of strongly committed partners: the local education authority, the local government, the CAF and the Cité éducative, alongside fully invested local associations — Nature is the Key, Art for Sciences and the Compagnons du devoir. Because Mix'Art goes far beyond a simple technical introduction. With Nature is the Key, for example, the young people had to create a participatory mural, appropriating the association's values and translating them into images. Reading, understanding, transcribing visually: a real work of interpretation. This network between institutions and actors in the field is undoubtedly one of the keys to the project. Fifteen years after its creation, the association confirms that street art can be a civic endeavour everywhere.