Global Junior Challenge
2009 project “Art miles Mural
Narnia”. Murales for Pace
Art Miles Mural
VIDEO
In 1996 the first
peace mural was created by Bosnian children in an orphanage. A small child approached the
director of Art Miles, Joanne Tawfilis, and asked to create a “big painting.”
Since the Bosnian war, this was the first instance where people came together laughing and
smiling. This then inspired Joanne and her husband Fouad to create the Art Miles Mural
Project. This project is part of a worldwide effort to actively endorse global harmony.
1. Project summary
The Art Miles Mural Project consists of twelve one mile long acrylic
painted murals on canvas involving twelve distinct themes—The Multicultural Diversity
Mile, The Environmental Mile, Sports, Music, Women, Senior, Celebrity, Fairy Tale, Peace,
Unity and Healing, Mentor, and The Indigenous Peoples Mile. Each of these murals is twelve
foot (12’) long by five foot (5’) wide. There are 440 canvasses per mile and a
total of 5,280 murals will be joined together in 2010. The Art Miles Mural Project forms
collaborations with numerous organizations, groups, conference support organizations,
hospitals, foundations, and educational and cultural entities within different countries.
One of these organizations is the International Education and Resource Network
(iEARN)(www.iearn.org) and Art Miles is one of their 85 collaborative art projects. Art
Miles has recently established a contact with an Italian representative in that country
who lives in Narnia, Italy, geographically located outside of Rome and of which the
C.S.Lewis "Narnia" books and films were developed around. At the beginning of
2002, over 500 murals had been completed by children from over 80 countries ranging from
Bangladesh to the Seychelles, Europe, Latin American, Asia, and Australia. Children with
no hands have completed them with their feet, blind children have painted to music, and
Peruvian street children have painted them by candlelight. Teachers on vacation have
carried canvas and paint in their backpacks instead of carrying clothing, through the
Himalayas to children in Nepal and Mongolia. Schools, churches, YMCA’s, Boys and
Girls Clubs and Kids at Risk programs, after school groups, homeless shelters,
multicultural organizations and festivals, hospitals, private and commercial companies,
and environmental groups, have been among the many organizations that have hosted the
mural happenings. Many murals have shown their "healing power" and kids in camps
sponsored by the American Cancer Society, and other organizations have seen the effect and
dimensions of joy children have experienced from working on the Art Mile Mural Project.
2.
Country (City / Region)
3. Company/organization/institute presenting the project
4. Type of organization
5. Project coordinator
6. Website
The
website of the project:
http://www.the-art-miles-mural-project.org/
7. Please select the category in which you candidate
your project
Youth
Education Project. Select Project Users by age:
Helping youth step in the job market:
Creativity and Social Innovation:
Creativity and
Social Innovation
8. How long has your project been running?
9. Targets and Elements of Innovation
Please
explain the targets and the background of your project:
The objective of the project
is to create global harmony through art, one mural at a time, one mile at a time.
Therefore it is the PROCESS that is emphasized in the creation of what has turned into a
monumental global endeavor. The collaborative project has ignited spontaneity and freedom
of expression by bringing individuals or groups together where not only creating murals
has resulted, but also friendships established, and understanding, cultural awareness,
respect, and simply having fun have been realized as sustainable benefits. The project has
gained a formidable reputation in its ability to foster community development, literacy,
and positive activities for people of all ages and locations.
What does it try to achieve and how:
More than 40,000 people from
100+countries, including those with disabilities and special needs, have completed over
1,300 murals. A large emphasis is placed on encouraging children to paint murals and the
project is officially recognized as a vital contribution of arts in support of the UNESCO
Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non Violence Among Children of the World, the UN
Millennium Development Goals, and the Convention for the Rights of the Child.
Which opportunities/problems does it address to:
Since the Bosnian war, this
was the first instance where people came together laughing and smiling. This then inspired
Joanne and her husband Fouad to create the Art Miles Mural Project. This project is part
of a worldwide effort to actively endorse global harmony. Now all around the world
students work in a multicultural way.
Please explain what is unique or special in your project:
The Art Miles Mural Project
consists of twelve one mile long acrylic painted murals on canvas involving twelve
distinct themes—The Multicultural Diversity Mile, The Environmental Mile, Sports,
Music, Women, Senior, Celebrity, Fairy Tale, Peace, Unity and Healing, Mentor, and The
Indigenous Peoples Mile. Each of these murals is twelve foot (12’) long by five foot
(5’) wide. There are 440 canvasses per mile and a total of 5,280 murals will be
joined together in 2010.
10. Results
Describe
the results of your project as per today:
More than 40,000 people from
100+countries, including those with disabilities and special needs, have completed over
1,300 murals. A large emphasis is placed on encouraging children to paint murals and the
project is officially recognized as a vital contribution of arts in support of the UNESCO
Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non Violence Among Children of the World, the UN
Millennium Development Goals, and the Convention for the Rights of the Chil
How does it fulfill the users’ needs:
see this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY9vuz12fEE
How many users interact with your project per month and what are
the preferred forms of interaction:
We have friends all around
the world that work in this project. Till now More than 40,000 people from 100+countries,
including those with disabilities and special needs, have completed over 1,300 murals.
How has it improved the quality of educational and/or training
services:
1. To enhance
individuals’ understanding of global issues by thinking and discussing the theme of a
mural and to encourage children and youths to be independent and responsible for
their thoughts and behaviors through the activity of creating a mural in a group.
2. To broaden individual's outlook open to the world by seeing their own works
exhibited in any place of the earth.
How has it improved the participation of professionals, children,
youth and other stakeholders:
connects children in the
world by Art Miles Mural Project . .and makes a difference to creat a global harmoney
through art. All peoples works for the same project.
How does it promote the use of ICT for the educational and cultural
development by professionals, children and youth:
We use internet for been in
touch see for exemple
Describe how you measure (parameters) these results:
we work for craete murales
and this is our goals.
11. Sustainability
What
is the full duration of your project:
What is the approximate total budget for your project (in
USD):
What is the source of funding for your project:
Is your project economically self sufficient now:
12. Transferability
Has
your project been replicated/adapted elsewhere:
all around the world and
intercultural project are in Japan and Italy many exemple see also
http://www.narnia.it/murales_eu.htm
What lessons can others learn from your project:
work togheter in a creative
way http://www.narnia.it/fauzia_eu.htm
We are available to help others starting or working on similar
projects:
We are available to
help others starting or working on similar projects.
13. Background information
The Art Miles Mural Project
has been featured in scores of local, state, national and international media, a variety
of television programs and has been a subject of video films and documentaries, and as a
special feature in the International Children’s Art Foundation (ICAF) Child Art
Magazine. Many of the murals have also been showcased in a variety of exhibitions,
galleries, museums, and public buildings, including the American Museum of Natural History
and at Ground Zero in New York City. This project, based on it’s overwhelming
popularity, has also become the premiere activity for major conferences ranging from the
International Children’s Environmental Health Conference in Washington, DC, National
Network for Youth Conferences, and the United Nations Environment Program International
Children’s Conference on the Environment, the USA Environmental Protection Agency and
other organizations. Based on the popularity of this project and it’s global appeal,
an invitation was extended by the government of the City of Mexico City and their National
Gallery of Art to bring The Art Miles to the famed Teotihuacan Pyramids during the Vernal
Equinox (March 21, 2002). The event was chronicled as one of Mexico’s most amazing
historical events. It actually started a tradition to be carried forward in years to come
and help promote Mexico’s architectural and tourist wonders. The objective of this
project was to focus on children and to support UNESCO’s oversight of the United
Nations Year of Cultural Heritage during the Decade of the Culture of Peace and
Non-Violence Among Children of the World, by inviting students from Mexico City’s
seventy-five (75) school districts to paint murals on site. This was, indeed an incredible
opportunity for children and visitors to watch first hand, children express what is in
their hearts during one of Mother Nature’s most spiritual moments. Local, National
and International media were present and many interviews and follow up articles have been
published. Additional mural marathon events have since taken place in Pakistan, Lebanon,
Austria, Slovakia, Spain and most recently Egypt, with more than 2,000 children painting
murals during summer activities.
Watching the mural be
created was gratifying because it was intriguing to watch what people painted. The artists
were quite diverse, but they all came together for the common goal of promoting world
peace.
Future plans and wish list:
Start for piramides with the
2010 Event at Giza and Sharm El Sheikh The Art Miles Mural Project consists of twelve one
mile long acrylic painted murals on canvas involving twelve distinct themes—The
Multicultural Diversity Mile, The Environmental Mile, Sports, Music, Women, Senior,
Celebrity, Fairy Tale, Peace, Unity and Healing, Mentor, and The Indigenous Peoples Mile.
Each of these murals is twelve foot (12’) long by five foot (5’) wide. There are
440 canvasses per mile and a total of 5,280 murals will be joined together in 2010 in
Egypt .
See the
video
http://www.narnia.it/foto.htm
http://www.narnia.it/lefo/fotogjc2004.htm
http://www.narnia.it/foto.htm
Global Junion
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