Murals Help Heal The World

A day with Newcomers is always interesting, informative, and fun.  An outing to the new Muramid Museum and Art Center in Oceanside offered all of that and more.  Thank you to Melinda for organizing this event.  Most of our time was spent listening to Joanne Tawfilis, co founder of the museum, talk about her life and how mural art entered her world.  Joanne spent 30 years working for the UN.  After that, she spent time in Bosnia, and this is where things changed for her.  She worked with women who had lost their husbands and sons to a horrific war, and she tried to find ways for the women to heal themselves and carry on.

Joanne discovered that making murals was both cathartic and team building, for both children and adults.  This led her to create The Art Miles Mural Project.  AAMP is more about the process of bringing people together to build consensus and demonstrate how, "Peace begins with me," than it is about the actual mural.  AMMP is a passionate and colorful twenty-year movement combining the efforts of children and adults worldwide to promote global harmony through mural art.

Inside the museum, the first indoor mural art museum, are several murals from Kenya, Somalia, and other areas of the world where people are trying to heal through mural art.  Meeting and hearing Joanne's story was inspiring.  She does more in one day than I can even think about doing.  The result is, through volunteers and lots of hard work, a program of mural art that is done and viewed worldwide.  The museum also hosts music nights, and other special events.  Next time you're in Oceanside, stop by Muramid Museum at 212 No. Coast Highway and see what I'm talking about.