Introduction
First and foremost, on behalf of Johor Sketchers, I would like to thank ThinkCity and JB Arts Festival for the trust given to conduct JB Sketchwalk and Postcard for Stories Project. This is the report for the the project.
a) Wall Art of Downtown JB
We made 8' X 8' map of Johor Bahru downtown for ThinkCity JB wall. It took us 7 days to complete the art. We are glad to see people use the art for reference when they talk about JB. Thus, it's more than an art that decorates the interior but it is also a functional art. Initially, we use odd shape acrylic pockets to place postcards at the side. Later we found out that the shape was not suitable and made the pockets fragile. We then replaced the pockets with another custom made flat design pockets which are stronger.
b)JB Sketchwalk
We organized 2 hour sketchwalk 8am to 10am in the morning and 5pm to 7pm in the afternoon. 20 sketchers participated in the morning session and 6 sketchers participated in the afternoon session. The sketchers were from different walks of life, from a 10 year old to a 70 year old. After each sketchwalk session we had a show and tell session at JB ThinkCity office. Not all sketchers went to the front to talk as few were shy. Nevertheless, the majority who did talk share said that the sketching experience was liberating and therapeutic. They get to experience the atmosphere of the down JB, interact with the people and observe the architecture details that they took for granted before this. At the same time, the new sketchers get some free art tips from the veterans artists.
c)Postcard For The Stories
We made 4 postcard designs and walked around the downtown areas offering them in exchange for city stories. We also put some postcards and pens at the Map Wall Art inside ThinkCity HQ. We collected about 130 stories and the number is growing as people still contribute when the visit the ThinkCity office. The stories are available for reading at ThinkCity HQ. The stories in the postcards give a glimpse of the meaning of Johor Bahru to the people that interact with it.
We truly, Johor Sketchers and ThinkCity can further collaborate in other projects in the future.
