The City Gallery project aims to create over 20 murals on various facades around Cejl, to bring new life to the “Brno Bronx”. František Skála’s painting, “The Fateful Look Back” was approved by city councillors on Wednesday to adorn the wall of the Trauma Hospital. Photo credit: Městská Galerie.
Brno, Nov 19 (BD) – The creation of the City Gallery, a series of murals to brighten up walls throughout the Cejl district, is well underway. On Wednesday, city councillors gave their support to a plan to recreate František Skála’s “The Fateful Look Back” (“Osudové ohlédnutí”) on the wall of the Trauma Hospital, one of up to 25 murals that will eventually form the gallery.
“This painting will be paid for by the creator of the City Gallery project himself, who has also undertaken to keep the painting in a good condition, contributing to the revitalization of this district. The painting of the mural will begin no later than November 23rd,” said Petr Hladík (KDU-CSL), First Deputy Mayor of Brno.
Gradually, 20 to 25 paintings by renowned artists will be created in the area, including murals at Bratislavská 76 and Vranovská 22. According to Brno Mayor Markéta Vaňková: “The aim of Martin Reiner’s project is to create the largest open-air gallery in Europe, in a formerly deprived part of the city. Passers-by can already see the first mural on the side of the house at Cejl 28, designed by Vendula Chalánková and Petr Lysáček, who were inspired by Mendel’s experiments with peas. The painting at Bratislavská 40 is also nearing completion.” Among the other artists to respond to the call for participation are Eva Koťátková, Petr Malina and František Petrák.
Part of the City Gallery project is being funded by the municipal participatory budgeting project, Dáme na vás (We Give To You), the proposal having finished in fifth place in the public vote last year with more than 2,000 votes. However, the city-financed murals can only be created on houses owned by the city, according to Deputy Mayor Tomáš Koláčný (Piráti). “There will be five of them, and the City of Brno will give around CZK 1.5 million for this purpose. Brno residents can support the other works in other ways, such as fundraising campaigns,” he added.
Pavel Piler, director of the Trauma Hospital, welcomed the hospital’s participation: “Not only will this painting make the public space, which needs to be constantly cultivated, more pleasant, but I personally appreciate the fact that the hospital will be beautified, as many people perceive it as a purely sterile and impersonal environment.”
