Sheffield in Australia was a relatively backward area. However, the residents of Sheffield revitalized their homeland by Art. After discussing how to reform and innovation, at last some residents proposed to develop the tourism in order to attract more people to come. An inventive style of Art—Draw mural painting came up later. With the remarkable improvement and great effort, the town has realized its blueprint.
By: LanYing Huang 130907216 Class2
Inspired by the story of Chemainus, a small Canadian town that had through mural art, rescued itself from ruin, the Kentish Association for Tourism (KAT) worked valiantly on the vision to combine the arts and tourism to revive and reinvent the town of Sheffield.
Sheffield has become a major tourist attraction due to it being promoted as a “Town of Murals”,[5] based upon the instrumental contributions of the Kentish Association for Tourism (currently known as Sheffield Inc) and local tourism pioneer Brian Inder.
The first town mural was painted in Sheffield in December 1986. Since then over 60 murals depicting the area’s rich history and beautiful natural scenery are painted on walls scattered throughout the town and buildings along the roadside. The murals attract an estimated 200,000 people to the town annually.
In the heart of Sheffield, there are a number of studios open to the public where visitors can watch the artists as they do their work. There are artists of every discipline, including photography, fine art, glass, woodcraft, pottery, ceramics and specialised crafts.[8]
The International Mural Fest art competition has been held annually since 2003 and returns in April each year. A poem is selected which the artists use as their inspiration. After each competition the 9 finalist murals remain on display at Mural Park for approximately 12 months until the next competition.[9] In 2012, an interactive mural and workshops were added to the artistic activities of the festival for the Mural Fest 10th anniversary celebrations.
Murals can be a relatively effective tool of social emancipation or achieving a political goal. Murals have sometimes been created against the law, or have been commissioned by local bars and coffeeshops. Often, the visual effects are an enticement to attract public attention to social issues. State-sponsored public art expressions, particularly murals, are often used by totalitaruan regimes as a tool of mass-control and propaganda. However, despite the propagandist character of that works, some of them still have an artistic value.
Murals can have a dramatic impact whether consciously or subconsciously on the attitudes of passers by, when they are added to areas where people live and work. It can also be argued that the presence of large, public murals can add aesthetic improvement to the daily lives of residents or that of employees at a corporate venue.
Other world-famous murals can be found in Mexico, New York, Philadelphia, Belfast, Derry, Los Angeles, Nicaragua, Cuba and in India.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mural_painting
