The students of Miftaahul Uloom Academy in Union City teamed up with a New Jersey artist to produce a pair of murals that now adorn the side of the school building.
The “Peace Mural,” designed and painted by the Islamic school’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students, was funded by the Artists in Education Residency Grant Program, a project co-sponsored by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Young Audiences New Jersey & Eastern Pennsylvania.
The program is carried out in partnership with regional partners, including Appel Farm Arts & Music Center.
Kit Sailer, of Jersey City, is the artist who worked with the students to help them organize their ideas for the Peace Mural. “I was just the traffic cop. Every child participated in coming up with ideas and painting the images,” she said.
The school held an official unveiling of the artwork on Friday. Click on the photo gallery above for an up-close look at the new murals.
Faatimah Yanes, administrator at Miftaahul Uloom Academy, in her speech at the unveiling said, “God created all of us seven billion people that are alive today and I am sure He wants us to live in peace and take care of each other. Inside we all need the same things and on the outside each one of us is completely different so let’s celebrate our differences and take care of each other. Union City has been the perfect place to do this work and we are very grateful to Mayor Brian Stack, the Union City Police Department, the Board of Education, the Civic Association, the clergy, and all the wonderful people who live and work here and we hope this mural will be a reminder to all of us to always live in peace and take care of each other.”
