Artist strives to brighten up city with vibrant murals
Architect and street artist Nathan Sanan is on a mission to beautify the city one mural at a time.
Using vibrant colours and his artistic skills, his latest projects are at Beaconhurst School, College Street Primary, and Vincent Park.
He said the Beaconhurst School mural was informally named “Strive”.
“Inspired by one of the mottos of the school, it looks to provoke a sense of excitement in the learners and also acts as a reminder that there are going to be endless opportunities in their futures and they need to have the confidence to spread their wings and make the most of what life has in store for them,” he said.
Beaconhurst acting principal Brandon Cloete said they organised their third annual colour run initiative to raise funds to beautify the school.
“The point of the initiative is to raise funds to brighten up the school — to make the school a positive environment where learners feel happy and included.
“It is not just a building that they are coming to but a happy place,” he said.
Cloete said the school has several murals and this was the latest addition.
“It is to encourage our learners to strive for greatness, be it culturally, or in academics or sport,” he said.
Sanan said the Vincent Park mural, located at the basement pedestrian entrance to the shopping centre, was a project that was developed by him in collaboration with the mall’s management.
“We were looking to celebrate Freedom Day in conjunction with the Eastern Cape and its people.
“The vibrancy and colours of the mural were inspired by our national flag.
“A bit of a double-edged sword as it also is a reminder of national pride and our beautiful country,” he said.
He said the mural itself took about four weeks to complete and was named, “Your Journey, Our Destination”.
“It is a multilevelled attempt to honour all walks of life and the journeys we’ve all been on, be it struggles, celebrations, or just a simple journey to the shops,” Sanan said.
He said working in various education institutes in the area was a privilege that he does not take lightly.
“I am very aware that my work will be positively affecting thousands of pupils in the coming years.
“Knowing that I have an opportunity to help a generation, I put a lot of consideration into the message that the various artworks send, and develop the ideas alongside the various schools so that it is aligned with their values and vision,” he said.
He has completed a project at Selborne Primary’s new indoor facility — a watchful wolf with the message “Be the Light”, which is meant to inspire youngsters to leave a positive mark on life.
At Hudson Park Primary School, he did a collaboration with their grade 7 class of 2023 as a gift to the school to uplift the grounds with a representation of their emblem and school colours.
The entrance foyer at St Joseph’s Preparatory features a more abstract work that greets students and visitors with dynamic use of their school colours and logo, and a message to “Inspire Greatness ”— an apt challenge to both students and adults.
Recently, Sanan completed a mural for the College Street School as a part of an Autism Awareness initiative.
“I have committed to mural painting in a full-time capacity. All these works were visions that the schools brought to me and entrusted me to collaborate with the relevant parties to develop and execute the murals.”
Sanan said there were more projects in the pipeline for the Vincent Park mall’s walls.
“Currently, I am in the final stages of a unique intervention with Nonesi Mall in Queenstown [Komani] that is going to be a 130m-long celebration of the area.
“I am also developing concepts for mural initiatives in Cambridge and Gonubie as well as getting back into Quigney to possibly do more work in Currie Street.
“Additionally, I might be getting into a couple more schools to keep up the momentum of inspiring the younger generation through the upliftment of art,” he said.