Homeless in Vancouver: Chock-a-block with childish fun

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      Some young person or persons with a lot of chalk really played-up the sidewalk in front of their building and in front of their neighbours’ buildings and their neighbour’ neighbours’ buildings.

      Who else but a child would spend hours creating art nearly a third of a block long that was temporary by nature?

      Well…Tantric Buddhists would and British street artist Banksy does and then there are all the kids who grew up to be brilliant pavement chalk artists—they do it all the time.

      And maybe the amateur painters of Fairview are just following their inner children when they throw away the paintings they work so hard to create.

      The big long playground

      The process of creating things is a real value in itself. Putting aside the thing that may be created, the process fosters self-discovery and personal growth.

      Children play to learn, which is to say that playing is really a form of self-directed learning. And creation is both playful and educational.

      Children rather live in a constant moment of creation—they are busy creating their view of the world and busy creating themselves.

      So for children (and some adults) play is its own reward.

      The big chalk playground both facilitated and was a byproduct of that play It was never the point.

      All the better if the chalk fades away so the child has a chance to create something new tomorrow.

      It was an adult who thought to preserve the moment by photographing the sidewalk . The child was happy to just play on it. 

      Stanley Q. Woodvine is a homeless resident of Vancouver who has worked in the past as an illustrator, graphic designer, and writer.

      Comments

      1 Comments

      Looks

      Jul 29, 2014 at 8:56am

      like the beginnings of a great graffiti artist!