Mural project draws support for North Philly Muslims [photos]
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Community members help fill in the decorative elements of what will become the 'Windows of Peace' part of the mural. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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Al-Aqsa Islamic Society on Germantown Avenue in North Philadelphia. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. points out to Al Aqsa Imam Muhammad Shehata where to apply paint. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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Outlines on fabric form the framework for the mural to be completed by community members. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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Rebecca Fabiano of North Philadelphia paints one of the canvasses. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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Community members help fill in the decorative elements of what will become parts of a banner along the building’s roof. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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Safaa Deeb, Al-Aqsa youth club member, and Amneh Ahmad, Arab-American Community Development Corporation associate director, watch as Mayor Jim Kenney helps with the painting. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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Mural Arts Program Executive Director Jane Golden and Mayor Jim Kenney work on one of the canvasses. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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Community members help fill in the decorative elements of what will become the ‘Windows of Peace’ part of the mural. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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ArtWell Artist in Residence Joe Brenman (second from right) explains the tile making process to Mayor Jim Kenney. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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This tap is one of the simple tools used to press floral motifs into clay tiles. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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Joe Brenman demonstrates how simple tools, like this tap, are used to press motifs into clay tiles. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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Steve Perkiss of Mount Airy works on a tile. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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Clinton Graybell, part-time art and poetry teacher at Artwell, explains that emotional intentions and divine energy are channeled into geometrical, balanced symmetrical motifs. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
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Standing below the future site of the mural, Mayor Jim Kenney discounts the claims of Edward Archer, who said he acted in the name of Islam when he shot a Philadelphia police officer. (Bastiaan Slabbers/for NewsWorks)
The Al-Aqsa Islamic Society hosted a Community Paint Day Saturday, inviting members of the larger community to help paint a mural that will adorn the North Philadelphia mosque.
The event was part of a long-standing project intended to reduce the isolation of the local Muslim community, said Mural Arts Program director Jane Golden.
“Nothing happens overnight. All change is incremental, but it will happen,” said Golden.
The Al-Aqsa mosque was thrust into the national spotlight last month when someone tossed a pig’s head at the door. In the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris and California, the pig’s head was seen as an ominous sign of growing anti-Muslim sentiment. The FBI joined Philadelphia police in the investigation.
Last week, a Philadelphia police officer was shot by a man who claimed to have acted in the name of Islam.
While those events were not the direct motivation for the community paint day, organizers said they were on the minds of volunteers who poured “emotional intentions and divine energy” into their work.
The mural was designed by ArtWell artist-in-residence Joe Brenman, and volunteers filled in decorative shapes formed by the paint-by-numbers outlines he created.
Mayor Jim Kenney and City Council members Helen Gym, Allan Domb and Curtis Jones Jr. joined community members at the large canvases spread out on tables in the basement of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The mayor’s appearance was scheduled before the shooting of police Officer Jesse Hartnett last week. Kenney condemned the shooter’s claim to have acted in the name of Islam.
Looking at the room filled with painters, Amneh Ahmad, associate director with the Arab-American Community Development Corporation, welcomed the scene of racial and religious diversity as she watched the community working together.
Traditionally Islamic culture stays away from representing faces or animals. Clinton Graybell, part-time art and poetry teacher at Artwell, explained that “emotional intentions and divine energy” are channeled into geometrical, balanced and symmetrical motifs instead.
Brenman demonstrated a very contemporary translation as he presses a simple tap into clay tile to create a floral shape.
Hundreds of these will be incorporated into the “Windows of Peace” mural and used to decorate entryways this spring when the latest decorative elements will be added to the existing “Doorways to Peace” mural created 12 years ago.
It transforms the outside to match the beauty of what is going on inside, Golden explained.
A second Community Paint Day is scheduled for Jan. 30.
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