Their works of art are already making their mark on the entire district: the walls of the inclusive "jungle playground" on Beverstraße, the entrance area of the "dragon playground" on Sigmundstraße, electricity and junction boxes in the district, the garbage cans of the Viertelkiosk, colorful design elements on the forecourt of DEPOT Talstraße or the shutters of the "Josefa:Eck" of the parish of St. Josef are just a few examples of the great ideas of the "Art in the District" project. To mark the grand finale, the pupils from the three schools in the Aachen East school association, who brought the project to life from March 2025 to February 2026, were able to present their artworks once again in the DEPOT piazza and lead a creative workshop with interested visitors. "'Kunst im Viertel' is a successful example of how the combination of school social work and culture can help young people discover and develop their talents and also make their social space even more lovable with their art," said an enthusiastic Heinrich Brötz, the city's alderman for education, youth and culture, during his visit to the closing event. This was the third phase of the project, which has now been running for three years.

Pupils and teaching staff from the Aretzstraße secondary school, the Hugo-Junkers-Realschule and the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium in the Aachen-Ost school association and the people of the district were invited. The young people from the different types of school work hand in hand at "Kunst im Viertel". "The individual schools don't play a role for the young people. They are all super hard-working and new friendships have been formed across schools," reports Jan Bernhardt, school social worker at the Youth and School Department and responsible for the art project. He also had good news: The great project will continue for at least another year.

The "Art in the neighborhood" project

More than 2,000 children and young people from over 20 nations attend the secondary schools in the Aachen-Ost school association. A large proportion of them live in socially disadvantaged families. Participation in art, culture and sport is often only possible thanks to the commitment of the schools or Open Doors (OTs). Many children and young people are increasingly withdrawing from social life. Social spaces such as schools, playgrounds, parks, OTs, streets and clubs are increasingly shifting to social networks. This is where "Kunst im Viertel" comes in: The art and cultural education project has been taking place since 2023 under the direction of Jan Bernhardt as part of school social work with the Youth and Schools department. "Being able to create something artistically visible in their own social space, and in a living environment in which cultural participation is not a matter of course, opens up new access to expression and self-efficacy for children and young people with the help of artistic elements, which their environment alone often cannot offer," says Tobias Grundmann, head of the city's youth and school department, describing the importance of such projects.

The art in the street space creates points of contact in the neighborhood for children and young people, who are not only better integrated into the school community, but also get to know people and employees from various institutions in the neighborhood, which leads to friendly and respectful interaction.

What happens next?

Further projects are planned for the future. For example, other playgrounds in the district are to be embellished with motifs by pupils from the "Kunst im Viertel" group. The children's rights square will be upgraded with a large mosaic project, which will be carried out in cooperation with the "Kirschbäumchen" adventure playground. The young people will also be allowed to design more electricity boxes.

Adults in the neighborhood continue to donate canvases, garden furniture, wood and other materials for the project. The pupils will refurbish and paint the donations so that the furniture can be borrowed free of charge for school and district festivals in future. Afternoon art workshops are also planned from March 2026, which will take place in cooperation with OT-Talstraße. Marco Engels, Head of the "School Social Work" team at the City of Aachen, is delighted with the commitment that has spread to the entire district: "The children and young people's artistic projects have an impact beyond the participants: they beautify the entire social space, strengthen identification with their own living environment and create visible signs of community that everyone can be proud of."