200 cultural rebels discover the world of graffiti art

Around 200 pupils in Years 2, 3 and 4 at the Maria Montessori School spent the period from 21 September to 2 October discovering the world of graffiti art together with the artist Raphael Wiese.

The project took place at both the school's main site and its satellite site. In a series of workshops, the children learnt about different techniques and creative possibilities, developed their own lettering and designs, and were involved in the creation of a larger work of art.

Wiese began by introducing the pupils to his work and the distinctive features of graffiti art. He focused on shapes, colours, letters and individual expression. The children then got creative themselves: with tips and design tricks from the artist, they designed their own names, words and small motifs in graffiti style.

"The children were absolutely fascinated by Raphael and his art. They all marvelled, wide-eyed, at how well he can draw", says Marie Opgen-Rhein, a social worker at the Maria Montessori School and the Kulturstrolche's project coordinator there.

There was a particular focus on the collaborative creative process. Working with the individual classes, Wiese developed elements that were subsequently incorporated into a larger artwork for the school. The children were able to follow the creative process first-hand and recognise techniques they had previously explored themselves. In this way, the project combined their own creative work with the experience of seeing how many individual ideas come together to form a collective work.

Not just looking at art, but creating it themselves

It is precisely this direct access to art and culture that lies at the heart of the state-wide "Kulturstrolche" programme. The aim is for children to discover different cultural sectors and art forms, engage directly with cultural practitioners and, above all, get creative themselves.

Bocholt has been taking part in the "Kulturstrolche" programme since 2019. Since then, a wide range of projects have been carried out in collaboration with the Biemenhorst Primary School at its Weserstraße site. Since the 2025/2026 school year, the Maria Montessori School has also been part of the Bocholt Kulturstrolche programme. The graffiti project with Raphael Wiese is one of the first projects to emerge from this new collaboration.

The "Kulturstrolche" are jointly run by the Kultursekretariat NRW Gütersloh and the NRW KULTURsekretariat Wuppertal, and are funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.