Painting of Novgorod courtyards as a form of amateur creative activity of citizens

The article is devoted to one of the types of yard art – “yard painting”, which is local people creating objects with the help of paint, spray paint and other materials, aimed at the aestheticization of residential buildings and adjacent territories. The research has revealed self-developed courtyard territories of Veliky Novgorod, where dull, monotonous residential buildings and their adjacent areas have turned into sites for the expression of creative activity of local residents. Self-development and free creativity – the typical characteristics of the courtyard environment – are manifested both in decorating facades of residential buildings with paints (the space near windows and balconies, as well as painting gates, entrance doors, porches), and in the design of adjacent areas (lawn design, painting of outbuildings and street furniture). Painting in the yards is done by local residents without any support of institutions with the purpose of transforming poor visual environment, symbolic marking space and self-expression.