Project Arteria Phase 2 Makes City More Colorful

Introduction

In the run up to the National Games in Thiruvananthapuram City in 2015, the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) and Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala joined hands and implemented the Phase 1 of Arteria Project. Under this project, the artists had painted about 7000 square feet of University Stadium walls with colorful themes drawn from the city’s culture and heritage. It was a grand success, with people appreciating the work done by over 21 established artists. The walls of the stadium stretching from PMG junction to Palayam got painted with colorful themes. It added color and vibrancy to the National Games. The passersby stood for a minute and enjoyed the work by these artists. Along with the phase 2 implementation, the authorities took steps to preserve the painting of the first phase. Following the success of the first phase, the two departments related to the tourism joined hands again to make the city more colorful. In this blog, we will see what the government departments have done in phase 2 of the city beautification project.

Phase 2 Arteria Project

The Project Arteria that has turned the city walls into long canvas has comeback. After the success of the first phase of Arteria Project, the DTPC has taken on board the Tourism Department to carry out the phase 2 of Arteria Project.   In the second phase of the city beautification project, the iconic buildings of the capital city of the God’s Own Country such as Kanakakunnu Palace, Mascot Hotel, Chandrasekharan Nair and Trivandrum Corporation have become the vast canvas for the artists. In this phase, nearly 15000 square feet of city walls got painted with beautiful images. This phase of the city beautification project got completed with the total cost of about Rs. 37 lakh. The authorities chose the themes for the painting from t different painting competitions that were organized for this purpose.

Themes for Phase 2 Arteria

In the second phase, the Arteria project selected the location-specific themes. For instance, “the history of erstwhile Travancore dynasty” was the theme for the painting on the walls of Kanakakunnu Palace in the city. The paining had a length of 200 feet and a height of 6 feet. Meanwhile, the theme for the painting on the walls of Mascot hotel was derived from “Responsible Tourism”. The paining depicted on the walls of Mascot hotel had a length of 30 feet and a height of 8 feet. The themes for the paintings at Tourism Directorate, Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium and Trivandrum Corporation were not decided. Hence, the participating artists were free to take suitable themes. As part of the initiative, artists had covered the 100-foot-long and five-foot high compound wall and 10-foot-high and 10-foot long building wall with paintings. In the case of corporation building, the artists did the theme-based painting on 60-foot-long and 50-foot high wall. The Chandarasekharan Nair Stadium had its 30-foot long and 25-foot-high wall painted with colourful themes. With the second phase of Arteria Project, major buildings in the Rajpath starting from Kanakakunnu to Palayam have been colorfully decorated to boost the tourism in the capital city.