2021: Place Cadenas School, 13003. Technique: painting: rollers, brushes and spray for “stencils – Maurigamis” (Pochoirs Mademoiselle Maurice)

It’s all well and good to want a better world and to go to the four corners of the world to spread colors and poetry, but what about in front of your door?
So, I wanted to take action. Sometimes redistributing money to associations is not enough, says the heart.
In my neighborhood, in the 3rd arrondissement in Marseille, at Belle de Mai, where I have lived since 2015 (in 2009 I was at La Plaine), I wanted to offer something to children. I was lucky enough to have a workshop at the convent on Rue Levat for 4 years. Sometimes and then often the children from the school on Place Cadenas came to the garden. During one of their first visits, I noticed that some were putting their hands in the soil for the first time! The 3rd arrondissement of Marseille is neglected by the public authorities and “trafficking” of all kinds and material poverty reign. In short, living conditions are not easy. So I wanted to volunteer at the Cadenas school a little of my time, my colors by intervening in the playground. I had carte blanche. I put up words in giant letters, and in orange, here and there as well as a rainbow ribbon dotted with hundreds of birds, with a mandala made in the presence of the children. The words, verbs chosen with the children were painted here and there, high up, under the windows, vertically. Here they are: (so that they inspire, give confidence, and that CPs returning without knowing how to read can appropriate them as they learn): LOVE, LEARN, READ, IMAGINE, CONTEMPLATE, SHARE, LAUGH, DANCE, BE, SPEAK, WORK, PLAY, WRITE, DISCOVER, REFLECT, MARVEL, DREAM, LISTEN, LIVE, GROW. Words that seem fundamental to me to evolve in peace in this world, with oneself, others and the living.
I was able, with the help of a few volunteer teachers, to go into the classes and explain why these colors, the messages, for living together, nature, the living. I hope from the bottom of my heart that this intervention can be a little “psycho-magical”, transmit hope, values, value, optimism and openness of the heart. <3 Thank you to the school's teachers for their work, their energy and their investment!