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New street art attracts an international audience to Frauenfeld. Some works remain and change the cityscape.
From June 2nd to 4th, one of the largest street art festivals in Europe will take place in Frauenfeld. More than 60 artists from Germany and abroad present their works on selected house facades, walls or stairs.
After the festival, 33 of the murals will be preserved and some will be included in the Street Art app, which can be used to discover street art in cities around the world. This makes Frauenfeld, after Basel, the second street art city in Switzerland with an international community.
Selected street art from Frauenfeld
The open-air exhibition in Frauenfeld is open to the public: the works are distributed throughout the city and connected by a new city tour – a mixture of city festival, art exhibition and cultural experience.
From the idea to the festival
The street art festival was initiated by the local artist couple Monika and Marco Niedermann, who want to make “Frauenfeld the coolest and most colorful art city”. The idea came to them while traveling through cities that were characterized by street art. Again and again they would have thought that something like that would be great in their adopted home of Frauenfeld.
Legend:
The artist couple Monika and Marco Niedermann initiated the street art festival in Frauenfeld.
ZVG/Street Art Festival Frauenfeld
The two run a design agency in Frauenfeld. They were able to convince the responsible authorities of their idea and received funding: 280,000 francs from the city’s Covid fund and 150,000 francs each from the canton’s lottery fund and sponsorship contributions. The free services provided by the OC team and helpers are estimated at around CHF 200,000.
Art connects generations
Three weeks ago, the residents of the Park retirement center in Frauenfeld also grabbed paint and brushes. Together with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, they set to work, accompanied by the artist collective “Cup of Color” from Speicherschwendi (AR). This resulted in a colorful sea of flowers on a gray facade, right next to the entrance.
Legend:
From grandparents to great-grandchildren: everyone draws along on the façade at the entrance to the Park retirement center.
ZVG/Street Art Festival Frauenfeld
The joy of the residents is huge, according to those responsible. The Wall has become a meeting place where artists have repeatedly been surprised with “Güezli” and coffee.
Artists from all over the world
Almost 700 artists from numerous countries have applied for the festival. More than 60 artists are now present with their works in Frauenfeld, five of them from Frauenfeld. Almost 80 works of art were created from 900 liters of paint and more than 3000 spray cans.
This includes over 30 large wall paintings – so-called murals – painted wooden walls, installations and graffiti. The largest mural covers an area of 180 square meters. It was painted by Finnish artist Anetta Lukjanova.
criticism of art
“It’s nice when the city becomes a little more colourful,” says a woman from Frauenfeld. But not everyone likes the art on the wall. As soon as the first works were on view, criticism arose in the Thurgau capital, for example of the two cats in the fire station depot. “One likes it, the other not so much.”
Taste is discussable.
The selection of the objects was made “carefully and in consultation with the cantonal preservation of monuments,” says Robert Scherzinger, head of the office for building construction and urban planning.
“As is well known, one can argue about taste,” adds Mayor Anders Stokholm. He is convinced that the festival is a good opportunity to bring high-quality art into the public space and make it easily accessible there.