Mangaluru: There was a pleasant surprise for visitors to the district office complex here on Friday to see some of the old landmarks of the city brought to life on canvass as 13 women artists. The artists were part of a workshop, Poorva Thorana, an initiative of the district administration and the Kannada and Culture, to enliven old Mangaluru and introduce it to the new generation.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Kumara inaugurated the workshop and said that art has no boundaries of caste, creed, language and religion; in fact, it helps everyone bond.

“A viewer’s mind is gratified looking at the painting brought to life by the imagination of an artist. Through this, an artist also gets encouragement. Painting is conducive for mental health. Art does not attract everyone. A proper stage is required to identify an artist’s talent. Work should be done to identify talent in children itself,” he said.

Nature lover Prabha Kudwa spoke and said that there is a need to think about the prosperity of the children and country. Everyone must come forward to conserve Mangaluru’s culture and traditional buildings, she said.

The artists who took part in the art workshop include Sapna Norhona, Veena Madhusudan, Jayashree Sharma, Rachana Sooraj, Bhaghirati Bhandarkar, Nisha Bangera, Khurshid, Zeena Colaco, Jyothi Shetty, Aishwarya, Dhanya, Jayalaxmi, Ashvitha, Dhanyashri and Apoorva Shetty participated and brought to life the old Mangaluru.