The Art Miles Mural Project

About ICAE and Art Miles

The Iraqi Children's Art Exchange has joined an exciting project sponsored by the UNESCO Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence Among Children of the World: The Art Miles Mural Project. Iraqi artist Thamir Dawood and I are coordinating Art Miles Iraq for ICAE; he is working in the Middle East, from Amman where he lives, and I am working here in the States.

We will develop mural projects with communities of Iraqis living both inside and outside of Iraq. Some of these murals will be exchange projects, in keeping with the kinds of work ICAE has been doing over the last eight years.

The first mural was completed in March, 2008. We hope to have representation from Iraqis in Syria and Lebanon as well as from those living in Europe and the United States. We have our work cut out for us.

A gallery collaboration

Working at Dar Al Anda

A beautiful children's atelier - a work space - for this project is being generously donated , free of charge by Majdoline Al-Ghezawi Al-Ghoul and the Dar Al Anda Gallery in Amman. This space has enabled us to carry out our first project successfully, providing a good and reliable place to meet and work with children and a safe place to store our materials and the mural as children work on it over the course of many weeks. It promises to be the site of many future ICAE projects.

In addition, there is a small guest room at the gallery that has been made available to ICAE when we are working in Amman. We are very grateful to Majdoline and the Dar Al Anda for their ongoing help and support . Our continued success working on cross-cultural projects with children depends on these partnerships in Amman.

Pictures from Dar Al Anda

Pictures from the First Mural-Making Session

Thamir began working with a group of about twenty children in late January. There was brainstorming, and practicing before work began on the 12' x 5' canvas. All the UNESCO murals are a standard size. The first mural was completed in early March, 2008.