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Sending Love To Sendai: Tsunami and Earthquake Survivors in Japan
an article by Fouad and Joanne Tawfilis
The Art Miles Mural Project (www.artmiles.org)
has always supported "healing" efforts following natural and human
disasters by bringing people together through the arts by creating five
by twelve foot murals on canvas. Since the week following the Tsunami
and Earthquake in Japan students from several Southern California and
Colorado schools gathered together to create murals that will be sent to
the coordinators of the Japan Art Mile (Mr. and Mrs. Shiwaku) as part
of a collection of twenty murals that will hopefully send cheer and
goodwill by sharing warm and happy visual images to Japan. The
collection will be exhibited with the Art Miles Japan Art Mile (JAM)
team in Japan.
Mural Painting at the Aquarium of the Pacific "Sendng Love to Sendai"
click on photo to enlarge
JAM
also created the renowned educational and cultural International
Intercultural Mural Exchange Project (IIME), where two schools in two
countries create one mural together, meet each other through web
conferencing, study each culture and design a "seamless" mural together.
Over one half million children and adults have completed more than
4,000 murals from over 125 countries since 1997. Art Miles has been
recognized and awarded by "O" Magazine, the International Committee of
Artists for Peace, the Superintendent of Schools of California and by
the US State Dept Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs (www.exchanges.state.gov) for their outstanding efforts.
Art Miles thanks the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, for
their active and enthusiastic participation in creating murals, Tara Art
Materials, hundreds of mural painters, and Art Miles team members and
volunteer professional artists for their efforts and donations of
materials that helped make this special project possible. UPS Japan
with help from UPS San Diego have also kindly extended their support by
sponsoring the shipment of the collection to Japan.
The opening exhibition will take place at the Sendai Elementary
School prior to traveling throughout Japanese cities. Murals were
completed by Empresa Elementary School in Vista, El Morro Elementary
School, Laguna Beach, the UNA USA Earth Day Fair in Balboa Park,
Bloomsberg University, Bloomsberg, Pennsylvania, West Jefferson Middle
School, Conifer, Colorado, Hamilton, New Zealand, the Aquarium of the
Pacific, International Children's Festival and the Urban Ocean Festival
in Long Beach, California State University Fullerton, Irvine and by the
Healey family in San Clemente.
Art Miles Mural Project began with 350 orphans who painted a
mural on a bullet riddled bed sheet in the post conflict era in the
Balkans and it was the children who showed how hearts can be healed
through such activities. The Art Miles Mural Project is a 100%
volunteer program of the Non Profit Organization, United Nations
Association USA San Diego (501.c3). Photos of "mural making" are
available.
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
Peace Paint Ambassadors
How can they facilitate a culture of peace?
Japan earthquake and nuclear disaster
How can we show solidarity with the people there?
Thematic forum(s) in which this article is being discussed:
THE ARTS - LES ARTS
SOLIDARITY - SOLIDARITE
Latest reader comment:
There are two CPNN articles on this topic:
Sending Love To Sendai: Tsunami and Earthquake Survivors in Japan;
Peace Boat Launches Fukushima Youth Project
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This report was posted on July 7, 2011.
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