Italian street artist Millo has created a new motivational mural on the wall of the Kremenchuk juvenile penitentiary for Mural Social Club: BACK TO SCHOOL! with the support of UNICEF Ukraine and Sky Art Foundation.
About The Mural
As usual, the main characters in Millo’s works are friendly urban citizens in their usual everyday life portrayed in an ironical setting. The artist draws attention to human feelings, which he represents through unexpected features. Millo has painted “The Power of Imagination” mural in his unique white and black style with bright coloured details: a boy is sitting near a wooden plane he has built himself to emphasize the limitless imagination of children and their potential to choose any path in life and become pilots, plane engineers or astronauts.
Millo believes that: “The power of imagination is vital to never stop dreaming and develop our own potential. Our imagination is the force that guides us to follow our inner dreams and trust the endless possibilities in our life.” About the project, he says: “I have created this wall with the aim of giving hope and strength to all those who are leading a difficult and challenging journey.”
About The Artist
Millo is an Italian street artist who paints large scale murals in simple black and white lines and occasional color. His works incorporate urban characters in unusual settings and have an element of architecture.
He took part to several street art festival and NGO art event all around world. He has been painting in USA, Russia, China, Australia, Thailand, Argentina, Chile, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, UK, The Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and of course Italy. His works have been exhibited in Los Angeles, Chicago, Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Milan, Rome, Florence and more. In 2014 he won the B.Art competition that enabled him to paint 13 multi-story murals in the city of Turin (IT).
About Mural Social Club: BACK TO SCHOOL!
The Mural Social Club, supported by the Sky Art Foundation together with UNICEF, started the “Mural Social Club: Back to School!” project with the purpose to increase buildings’ value and meaningfulness, presenting children with a monumental art work, and more importantly to add fantasy and dreams to children’s minds.
Back to School!Ukraine project strives to bring brighter colors to the inmates’ everyday life through street art. These artworks, especially those created by renowned artists, encourage them to develop their own potential, both in painting and other activities. Maybe these teenagers would one day create murals on the buildings of many cities in different countries.
Julien Malland aka the “Seth” (France) and Oleg Sosnov are the curators of this project, which was initiated by Dmytro Palienko, founder of the Sky Art Foundation. Through the support of UNICEF Ukraine, it was possible to create the mural on the Kremenchuk juvenile penitentiary by Italian artist Millo.
About Sky Art Foundation
Sky Art Foundation was established in Ukraine in 2014 as a private initiative that aims to support and develop a new generation of Ukrainian artists, who work in the sphere of contemporary art. The foundation also aims to promote international cultural exchange and integrate Ukrainian art in cities around the world.
The Foundation actively carries out exhibitions and charity activities, organizes international art projects, cultural events with a participation of Ukrainian painters and provides grants for talented artists.
About UNICEF
UNICEF is an international organization that aims to promote the rights and well-being of children around the world. Through partnerships and collaboration, they work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, dedicating special efforts to reach the most vulnerable and excluded children, for the benefit of all children, everywhere.
In 2016-2017, UNICEF implemented the program ‘Building a Future Together’ at six juvenile detention facilities in Ukraine in partnership with All-Ukrainian Public Centre ‘Volunteer’ to promote tolerance and prevent conflicts and hate crimes. Under this program, UNICEF provided education and prevention services concerned with children’s rights, tolerance, positive approach to life and leadership in-order to relieve tension and limit conflicts amongst the youth. The ‘Building Future Together’ program also offered training to 46 staff of the juvenile facilities and 168 young people helped more than 2,000 juveniles at the pre-trial detention centers to grow their knowledge and develop their skills.
Art, expressed through painting, is one major component of UNICEF’s activities that seek to build tolerance, rehabilitation, unity and mutual understanding amongst teenagers. It is expected that juveniles and young people’s participation in such events will develop their creativity and encourage them to use their artistic imagination to express their emotions and feelings. This is considered a critical step for the rehabilitation of vulnerable teenagers.
For more info about UNICEF Ukraine and their work with children: www.unicef.org/ukraine
Millo: website | facebook | instagram
Sky Art Foundation: web | facebook | instagram
UNICEF Ukraine: website | facebook | twitter
