All Join Hands: Visions of Peace
All Join Hands: The Visions of Peace Project at Benjamin Franklin High School on Broad & Spring Garden. Muralist: Donald Gensler
In September 2005 the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program in conjunction with the School District of Philadelphia, the Department of Human Services, and the Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board, facilitated a Town Hall Meeting at Ben Franklin High School to launch All Join Hands: Visions of Peace project. This was created to raise awareness about the prevalence of youth violence in Philadelphia, to investigate causes of violent behavior, and to talk about solutions to these problems using art as a medium for discussion.
The broad goal of All Join Hands was to bring together groups of stakeholders whose paths might never cross to sit at the same table and conduct serious discussions about complex issues, foster new relationships within the city and state, and provide a forum for cultivating new strategies in Philadelphia's efforts to curb youth violence. The culmination of the project was a large scale mural on the exterior wall of Benjamin Franklin High School at Broad and Spring Garden Streets in October 2006.
Lead muralist Donald Gensler worked with young people to ensure that a wide array of young voices were heard. Gensler drew ideas and artwork from students in our ArtWorks! Program, an art education program that serves at-risk and chronically truant youth. Finally, Gensler collaborated with students from Benjamin Franklin High School as part of our partnership with the School District of Philadelphia.
For more information about this project, please contact Lindsey Rosenberg, Director of Special Projects, at 215.685.0729 or lindsey.rosenberg@muralarts.org.
Throughout the year we invited Philadelphians to help paint the mural at community paint days and were astounded by the number of people who came out to help.
In addition to the All Join Hands: Visions of Peace mural, lead muralist Donald Gensler curated an exhibit at F.U.E.L. highlighting selected work from this yearlong project which included artwork created by students in our art education programs.
To purchase the All Join Hands: Visions of Peace poetry book, please visit our online store.