The Passion 4 Youth Fine Arts Program spent the summer painting a mural on the wall of Trinity Anglican Church. It was an amazing experience.
Below are two reflections on the project:
On the right in a drawing by one of the P4Y artists, which depicts herself painting the mural.
On the left is a poem written for the mural unveiling by Jamaal Jackson Rogers.
Thank you both for sharing with us.
BRIDGE OF FAITH– by Jamaal Jackson Rogers
From the moment that we realize That our pens, pages, voices, stages And a little bit of spray from an aerosol can Creates art It’s like magic Manifesting in even the most unsuspecting of places It’s as if our eyes have turned on a silent inner light Of faith And beauty A bridge for which our hearts can find comfort in community and a place to call our own In a second The landscape of a forgotten brick wall can become the vibrant canvas of which youth can call home An abandoned language Spoken in splashes of camaraderie Between the sinews of streets and shops and churches Whispered in wisps of concrete sermons To bring life back to the seemingly bleak and obsolete Giving birth to purpose and legacy You see It was never about how we find refuge when the world seems so dark And dull For the lovers of life And the crafters of art Can take just one thought and turn it into actions of love and brilliance and truth For truth can be seen And has been said can set you free So if we agree Then I ask us to look With our hearts wide open at the scene that has come together Built through movements of giving, selflessness, dedication, respect, understanding, activism Look And discover how faith and beauty intersect by a little bit of spray from an aresol can Look at how life is a like a journey on the longest bridge we will ever have to cross And with the blessings of art It won’t be so hard We will rediscover what puts the passion in compassion Marvel at the wonder and awe of the subtle lines and wavy curves of the human condition Revel at the power of the robust colours that hold the secrets to our universal connection But I ask you to not stand still Eventually I want nothing more than all of us to travel in succession From our alienated lives of dust, wood and concrete Into a congregate existence of unity, harmony and positivity There is hope In the eyes of the young who know what it’s like to be found but once was lost There is hope In the elders who have much to give from the experiences they carry in their palms There is hope And the miracle of it all is that you don’t have to search very far You don’t have to be a scholar graduated from Harvard or own a Bank account that holds plenty of dollars Because hope lies right here In this moment At the feet of life’s bridge that joins abstract and simplicity Fantasy and reality Stories and history Self-expression and self-reflection So today let us honour the citizens of our society Who have strived to make a mural that represents a philosophy of mutual solidarity Those who have called our minds eye to look again To find meaning in these streets A renewed belief composed in a house of paint where we can set the burdens of our differences free That faith, beauty, hope, art Can spark change Inside and out.