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The MEM Project

Community Mural Project: Halisa Community Center in Haifa, Israel
July 2012

The MEM Project partnered with the Halisa Community Center in Haifa, Israel to work with kids from the arab neighborhood to design and paint a community mural in their local school. The themes of the mural were Mifgash (encounter/meeting place) and what makes the kids proud of their neighborhood. Participants were asked to draw things about their neighborhood that they would want to share with a newcomer. In a low income neighborhood with many challenges, the youth of Halisa shared their drawings of their dreams for success and peace, and the strength of the community manifested in the laughter of the children. Components of each child's drawing were incorporated in the final design.

The mural was inspired by a neighborhood song that speaks to the impact of the smiling children. The mural reads like arabic (from right to left) with the gray buildings of Halisa evoking a rainbow of color. Near the buildings there is a butterfly trapped within a tree, wanting to fly free. The rainbow rises to music notes as the left side showcases a group of smiling children singing their neighborhood song (written in arabic) and releasing the trapped butterfly. Peace signs fill the center of the flowers and shining stars above offer the children something to wish upon.

The transformation of the wall is obvious physically, with a hope for a positive transformation within the community collectively as well. The goal is for the mural to serve as a visual reminder to the children of the beauty that they are able to accomplish when they work together and focus on the inspiration of their song and laughter.

Many thanks to Noga Nevel from the JCRC in Boston and Nisreen Morqus from the Halisa Community Center in Haifa for connecting me with this community and making this project possible.

Watch a video of the local youth singing the neighborhood song that inspired the mural by clicking here.
View a blog post by the Boston-Haifa Connection by clicking here.

Enjoy pics from this project in the slideshow below.

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Mission
    • Vision
    • Leadership
    • In the news...
  • Programs
    • Art Workshops >
      • Stained Glass Series Nov 2014
      • Solar Lantern Workshop Oct 2014
      • Women's Papercutting Workshop Mar 2014
      • Limmud Community Art Project Dec 2013
      • Chanukah Workshop Nov 2013
      • JBBBS MAGIC Event Sep 2013
      • Eser Workshop Apr 2013
      • Passover Art Series Mar 2013
      • Stained Glass Course Jan 2013
      • Tu B'Shvat Art Workshop Jan 2013
      • Chanukah Course Dec 2012
      • Limmud Workshop Dec 2012
      • Reflection Course Sep 2012
      • Downtown Lunchtime Mural Series Jun 2012
      • Passover Course Mar 2012
      • Painting Course Feb 2012
      • Papercutting Course Jan 2012
      • JCC Diller Fellows 2012
      • CJP CHAI Society
      • JCC Diller Fellows 2010
      • JP Workshop
    • Community Murals >
      • Temple Shalom Nursery School Mural 2014
      • Ramah Mural 2014
      • Binah School Mural 2014
      • JBBBS Giving Tuesday Event Dec 2013
      • Ramah 60th Anniversary Tile Mural 2013
      • Ramah Mural 2013
      • Horim Bamercaz Haifa Mural 2013
      • Shaarei Mural 2013
      • South Boston Boys and Girls Club Mural 2012
      • Ramah Mural 2012
      • Halisa Haifa Mural 2012
      • Medford Boys and Girls Club Mural 2012
      • KI Mural 2011
      • Ramah Mural 2011
      • Roxbury Community Mural 2010
  • Support
  • Contact Us