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Miles of Murals Exhibit in Paris May 2014
an article by Joanne Tawfilis
The Art Miles Mural Project, a program of the
United Nations Association of the USA San Diego
Chapter, is scheduled to exhibit thousands of
murals during the month of May 2014 at the United
Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) Headquarters in Paris,
France. After 18 years of facilitating the
creation of more than 4,300 acrylic painted 5x12
foot murals on canvas, a visual documentation of
modern history will portray the sentiments of more
than ˝ million people from over 100 countries.
click on photo to enlarge
The Art Miles Mural Project began during the post
Balkan conflict when orphaned children painted
images addressing the issues of conflict and its
impact on victims of violence and war. The first
mural was painted on a bullet riddled sheet in an
orphanage in Bosnia, Herzegovina. Painting these
experiences helped to “heal hearts through mural
arts”, says co-founders Joanne and Fouad Tawfilis.
Over the years, murals have portrayed 12 major
social issue themes (440 murals per mile) with
topics such as Environment, Women, Peace, Unity
and Healing, Sports, Children, Fairy Tale, Music,
Senior, Muralist, Hero, Indigenous and
Multicultural Miles. The project also spawned an
International Intercultural Mural Exchange (IIME)
operated by the Japan Art Mile, in which one mural
is created by two separate schools in two
countries and facilitated through an internet
formal classroom curriculum. The art pieces have
been exhibited in many major museums and World
Heritage Sites throughout the globe and Art Miles
murals can now be admired on busses in Yokohama
and in the Incheon International Airport in Seoul,
South Korea.
The objective of the project was to bring people
together through mural art to promote
understanding and respect and to share messages of
hope and healing throughout the world. Murals have
been created and delivered to survivors and
families of both natural and human disasters
ranging from Tsunami’s, hurricanes, tornadoes,
floods and earthquakes to school shootings and
violent events, including the recent Fort Hood
shootings and the Washington State Mudslide. The
subject matter of all the murals supports critical
UN programs of action; a Culture of Peace,
Education for Sustainable Development, the
Millennium Development Goals and the International
Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures.
The May 2014 exhibition in Paris will feature a
selected number of murals, a series of projection
of images and videos throughout the UNESCO
Headquarters and an interactive mural painting
with 100 local Paris based school children who
will also be invited to tour and learn more about
the organization and its programs.
The Art Miles Mural Project is a 100% all-
volunteer project collaborating with hundreds of
organizations to create a massive collection of
mural art and proving that through partnership and
passion, art continues to provide meaningful
results on a local, national and global level. It
is a testimonial to the programs of action
facilitated by UNESCO and the United States of
America. Art Miles’ international headquarters is
located in historic Balboa Park, California as a
major project of UNA-USA San Diego and includes
sub-projects such as Art Miles Shoes of Hope, Art
Miles of Music and Peace Paint Ambassador Program.
For further information please contact me at
JTawfilis@aol.com or +1 760 716 9308
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
Peace Paint Ambassadors, How can they facilitate a culture of peace?
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Latest reader comment:
To answer that question, I think the Peace Paint Ambassadors can do that by promoting within themselves first the concept of creating Global Harmony through art. Admiring art is an Art itself. Its not about how the painting looks like but its how its drawn and what message it sends. Its true when some said " A picture is worth thousands of words".....
Still how to facilitate a culture of peace? by allowing others to acknowledge this Art and spreading the concept and appreciation of Art with a meaningful message, rather than percieving Art just for spending time to draw and paint.with no solid basis of knowledge..
We need to promote Art and change its concept in one anothers eyes ....we should start with ourselves and proceed from there.....we need to be able to understand the concept of Peace it self inorder to speak our minds through paintings and pictures and allow others as well...
Nadine El-hadad
Peace Paint Ambassador
Alexandria- Egypt
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