With this colourful artwork an empty concreet place became a cool spot for youngsters of the Reeshof district to meet.

The artwork was initiated by the Raisehof Collective (architect Remco van den Broek, who grew up in the Reeshof district; culture coach of the district Anja Reinhardt; and Mirjam van Tilburg, researcher, lecturer and teacher at Master of Education in Arts, Fontys Academy of the Arts).

The iconic round little concrete square in the Reeshofpark, nicknamed 'the anus of the Reeshof', got a colourful makeover. Ten young people (Lena, Robin, Jeanne, Femke, Evy, Julia, Lizzy, Celeste, Fay and Fenne) have been working with artists Ivo van Leeuwen, Timothy Mahler and the Raisehof Collective on a large floor painting project to breathe new life into the place. Raisehof Collective  offers young people from the Reeshof a platform to become more involved in their environment and, for this occasion, to create a creative meeting place in their neighbourhood.

In earlier days, there used to be a domain in this area with a country house or castle called 'Rey's Hof' (later degenerated to Reeshof). It is named after its former owner Charles Rey de Carle (1731-1802), a retired military man who bought the area for development.

The Reeshof Park now stands on the site of that country house and the round concrete piazza where the young people painted was already a reference to the pond that once was there when the country house was still up.

With the artwork the youngsters also refer to that pond by painting three big fish in it. The fish also stand for growth and development. Other refences they painted are a storyteller (who tells about the past, nut also about the present and the future), an icecream (who doesn't like to eat a cold icecream in the park?), leaves (obvious for a park) bubbles etc.

Young people in the Reeshof district have almost nowhere to go to meet each other. May this place be a beautiful start. Because personal development takes place in public spaces, where you meet people with different opinions, and not at home on the couch while you are looking at your phone.