About the project: Gyumri city with all its beauty and potential had been a CIS cultural capital at one point in time. While there are frequently cultural activities happening in the city, they are few and sporadic, especially in the field of arts and painting and often do not engage the youth in a due manner. Moreover, the overall landscape of the city bears grey colours, which impact on the overall psycho-social well-being of its inhabitants.

Gyumri’s young people are those that shape the looks and the mood of the city; therefore, it is particularly important to engage them in various activities, giving them the feeling of ownership of their city, participation in its cultural life, as well as the creation of friendly spaces, encouraging creativity and innovative, positive thinking. The project, which is a community development one in nature, is aimed at engaging the younger generation of Gyumri inhabitants in shaping the overall outlook of their city through art and painting, as well as inject the notion of volunteerism in the community.

Positive thinking and mood are sometimes key to further developments in a locality that is why it is so important to get out of grey! The project has already started in September 2015, when a group of young volunteers reshaped a few “grey” parts of the city in a very modern and creative manner, making these spaces artistic, friendly and also interesting for visiting tourists. The project would greatly benefit from experiences of other cities in similar projects, including creative ways of engaging youth in the field of arts, arts as a way of expression and mood-shaping, modern ways of conveying important messages through arts etc.