A girl swings from a creeper growing up a wall. A giant sloth listens to music. A young boy casts his fishing line into a stream, complete with a fish that actually moves.
Welcome to the wonderfully imaginative world of PJO Art Tracks, where the streets of Stellenbosch became an unlikely art gallery and the town's young artists were given permission to let their imaginations run wild.
Art in unexpected places.
In 2016, Proud Partners joined forces with the PJ Olivier Art Centre in Stellenbosch to launch an annual street art competition for Grade 11 art learners.
The idea was wonderfully simple. Instead of creating artworks destined for a classroom wall or an exhibition hall, learners were challenged to take their creativity into the streets.
But there was a catch.
Their artworks had to interact with their surroundings, incorporating existing architectural features, plants, pathways or other elements of the urban landscape into their designs.
The result? Ordinary places transformed into extraordinary little surprises.
Learners submitted their concepts for judging, with finalists receiving cash prizes and the opportunity to bring their designs to life in locations around Stellenbosch.
The public was invited to join the fun too, photographing themselves alongside the artworks and voting for their favourites on social media.
And suddenly, walking through town became something of an artistic treasure hunt.
Four years of extraordinary imagination.
The inaugural competition in 2016 established the formula for what would become a much-loved annual event. Thomas Moss emerged as the overall winner, while the other finalists also had opportunities to transform their ideas into public artworks.
By 2017, the artists were becoming increasingly inventive.
Lara Burger turned a stretch of pavement outside a music centre into a striking piano artwork, winning the public's online vote. Estelle Truter cleverly incorporated a creeper growing on a wall into her painting of a girl on a swing, earning the Proud Partners Choice Award.
And Tasche Adams? She created a gigantic, colourful sloth listening to music.
In 2018, the imaginative Surrealistic Universe by Brooklyn Norkie and Melissa Wainwright had people turning their heads outside the Eikestad Mall. It won the public vote, while Hannah Reynolds received the Proud Partners Choice Award for transforming an ordinary walkway into a collection of vibrant lollipops.
The following year brought even more surprises.
Katryn Groenewald and Ghia Hough's Communication was voted the public favourite, while Hilda Krige's Millstream Boy transformed the Meulstroom in Bird Street into a playful three-dimensional fishing scene, complete with a moving fish on the line.
Jana van Zyl's The Consequence also received the Teacher's Choice Award.
Each year brought new artists, fresh ideas and another collection of unexpected encounters with art.
More than a splash of colour.
The artworks were intended to remain on display for approximately six months, after which their future was determined by the municipality or the businesses concerned.
But the real value of PJO Art Tracks went far beyond the paintings themselves.
For the learners, it was an opportunity to experience the entire creative process, from developing an original idea, working on a budget and presenting it to judges to executing an artwork in a public space.
It also meant having their talent recognised beyond the classroom, with real audiences responding to their work.
For Stellenbosch, it meant discovering art in places where nobody would ordinarily think to look.
And for Proud Partners, it was another example of what happens when young people are given an opportunity, a little encouragement and the freedom to surprise us.