Thanks to the sponsorship of The Underdog International, the message of positive relationships between children and dogs will remain for many years at schools in Gulu Municipal Area.
BIG FIX has always used Art for Animals as a way of engaging children in learning about animal rights. We have held contests in drawing, writing, singing original songs, original dance, and dramatic performance, all with the theme of the importance of human-animal bonds. This year, our education program includes the production of 20 murals at prominent school locations throughout Gulu Municipal Area. Each mural is created with the top artists at each school and the effort is led by two talented artists, Emmanuel Otim and Steve Jay Omar, who in 2018 led BIG FIX’s mural painting project which reached 19 schools.
The first day of the 5-day program at each participating school is spent reviewing the Five Animal Freedoms and having the children visualize the freedoms in drawings. The artists and children then work together to create a design for the school’s mural, and the mural is sketched onto a wall. The budding artists, most of whom had never before had the chance to paint, then make the mural come to life in bright colors.
BIG FIX has always used Art for Animals as a way of engaging children in learning about animal rights. We have held contests in drawing, writing, singing original songs, original dance, and dramatic performance, all with the theme of the importance of human-animal bonds. This year, our education program includes the production of 20 murals at prominent school locations throughout Gulu Municipal Area. Each mural is created with the top artists at each school and the effort is led by two talented artists, Emmanuel Otim and Steve Jay Omar, who in 2018 led BIG FIX’s mural painting project which reached 19 schools.
The first day of the 5-day program at each participating school is spent reviewing the Five Animal Freedoms and having the children visualize the freedoms in drawings. The artists and children then work together to create a design for the school’s mural, and the mural is sketched onto a wall. The budding artists, most of whom had never before had the chance to paint, then make the mural come to life in bright colors.
During February and March, 5 murals were completed. A total of 20 murals will be completed by the end of the year.
Art has the hidden ability to change mind-sets, without people even realizing that they have been persuaded, says BIG FIX project coordinator Sarah Schmidt. Even someone who has never thought about dogs, if they look every day at this happy mural of children playing with dogs, there is no question that they will come to think about dogs differently.
The children’s art is also a reflection that attitudes are changing. When BIG FIX first began school outreach in 2012, and children were asked to draw themselves with their dogs, they drew themselves at a distance from a frightening teeth-baring canine chained to a stump. Now, the drawings depict people holding dogs on their laps, playing with dogs, and taking their dogs for vaccination.
Art has the hidden ability to change mind-sets, without people even realizing that they have been persuaded, says BIG FIX project coordinator Sarah Schmidt. Even someone who has never thought about dogs, if they look every day at this happy mural of children playing with dogs, there is no question that they will come to think about dogs differently.
The children’s art is also a reflection that attitudes are changing. When BIG FIX first began school outreach in 2012, and children were asked to draw themselves with their dogs, they drew themselves at a distance from a frightening teeth-baring canine chained to a stump. Now, the drawings depict people holding dogs on their laps, playing with dogs, and taking their dogs for vaccination.