“I wish our neighborhood could be as beautiful as a rainbow.” “I hope flowers will bloom.” “I want there to be pictures on the wall.” Children from the public Iut Sarang Daycare Center, under the direction of Cho Seon-kyung, expressed their vision of the neighborhood through drawings, leading to the transformation of the long-neglected entrance wall into a bright and cheerful space.

Reported by Kim Ji-suk

Residents had criticized the entrance to Iut Sarang Daycare Center due to its rust-red wall and exposed metal gates and structures. Accordingly, the daycare center discussed repainting with the Bupyeong District Facilities Management Corporation starting in 2022, but when progress was slow, it decided to seek a solution on its own.
The first step toward change was taken in 2024 when the children's drawings were transformed into banners and put on display. The Bupyeong Volunteer Center, Galsan 1-dong Administrative Welfare Center, and the GM Korea Volunteer Center then came in as supporters once the children's ideas were combined into a proposal. After sustained efforts, in September the children participated together with the supporters to transform the wall into a single large mural.
Five-year-old Lee Soo-yeon smiled brightly and said, “It felt empty when there were no pictures, but now it’s pretty, so I like it.” The changes after the project are clearly noticeable. Residents offered words of encouragement to the children. Some parents commented, “It feels like the first picture book of our neighborhood made by children,” sharing photos on social media.
Director Cho Seon-kyung said, “I wanted to show the children a positive environment, but it bothered me that they had to pass a rusty wall every day.” She added, “Once we painted and added color ourselves, the route to and from daycare became brighter, and residents smile and say it looks rather nice. Because it has been made by working together with the children, it is even more meaningful, and I’m happy that it has become a path where children smile as they pass by.”