Debrecen4U
July 9, 2025
A fabulous mural decorates the courtyard of Babits Street Kindergarten
A special, 10×3 metre, fabulous painting was created on one of the walls surrounding the courtyard of Babits Street Kindergarten, which is the site of Liget Kindergarten. The children officially took possession of the painting on July 8, 2025, in the presence of the creators and guests.
At the handover ceremony, the director of Liget Kindergarten, Beáta Korpai thanked all contributors for their cooperation and support in achieving this special goal, including the city government, personally Deputy Mayor Diána Széles and municipal representative Erzsébet Katona, the students of the Creative Technical School of the Debrecen Vocational Training Centre, their teachers, the school leaders, the NTL MAX Kft. in Vámospércs, which provided the paint, and the Trilak Paint Studio. The director emphasised that this painting is not only a great gift for the children currently attending kindergarten, who also left their own handprints intended for “eternity” on the work, but also for those to arrive in the fall, and even for the residents of Babits Street and passersby who often stop and admire it. Special thanks also go to the owner of the property adjacent to the kindergarten, who contributed to the fact that this painted fairy tale world could be placed on the wall of his building. According to Beáta Korpai, a real, small, cohesive team was formed from the contributors, and this sense of community even included the fact that the creators involved the children in the work; for example, they were able to provide new ideas while making the painting, and there was also an opportunity to play football together.
In the words of Deputy Mayor Diána Széles, this collaboration is heartwarming, as it was created with the aim of bringing joy to young children by secondary school-age youth who are somehow still living their childhood. The Deputy Mayor therefore especially thanked the students for their heart-and-soul work, who have created the first milestone of their professional careers with this artwork, the first piece of their future “gallery,” and who were also able to experience spiritual fulfillment that they can carry with them as an eternal experience and incentive. According to Diána Széles, Debrecen can be a caring city because people live and work here who want to do something for the community. The local government must help and coordinate these collaborations, and thanks go to those who actively participate in these collaborations and create value. With this creation, the Babits Utca Kindergarten can provide a model and an idea for other kindergartens in Debrecen and see what kind of fairytale world can be created using the large wall surfaces. For kindergarten children, similar creations give them the opportunity to exercise their imagination and independent creative abilities, which is especially important in today’s digital world, and it is possible that these early influences may even determine their later careers.
Municipal representative Erzsébet Katona recalled the idea that what else could we give children if not roots and wings. In her opinion, this mural symbolises exactly this. According to her, the preparation for the realisation of the work began more than a year ago, based on her suggestion regarding the wall surface left behind by a demolished building. The request to use the available wall surface as a canvas and to contribute to the work was received with great openness by the Creative Technical School of the Debrecen Vocational Training Centre. The project started with the active participation of the kindergarteners: during preliminary discussions, each young child could say which animal was their favourite. Based on these, several visual designs were made. The final version was selected by community voting, with the involvement of the kindergarteners, their parents, and kindergarten teachers, leaving the possibility of artistic freedom to the creators. It even happened that during the preparation of the painting, the kindergarteners ran up to the students, and at the request of the little ones, even an “extra” frog could be added to the picture. During the work, the adults and kindergarten teachers were also captivated by the heartfelt enthusiasm, and they followed the development and progress of the work with great pleasure every day. Erzsébet Katona also highlighted the exemplary positive attitude of the students: during the week of the work, which was also part of their summer internship, they started work every day at 6:30 a.m. in order to be able to work continuously until noon, when the heat set in.
According to the president of the student government of the Creative Technical School of the Debrecen Vocational Training Centre, Angéla Brumár, it was a very good and proud feeling to participate in this activity, because they felt that they could unleash their creativity. Although they did not believe in it at first, they were happy that they managed to solve this task in one week. She also highlighted that compared to the original plan, the final creation included a lot of new elements, as the kindergarten teachers and the kindergarten children also provided plenty of new ideas. It was a real team effort: everyone added something to make this creation come true.
The kindergarten and the little ones also thanked the creators and helpers for their work with small gifts that immortalized the painting and contained elements of nature.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
