SHALOM, SALAAM, PEACE 2011

Led by Diana Gilon at Northeastern University, Acrylic Paint on Canvas 72” x 60”  

This painting was commissioned as a gift to the Northeastern community from the student group, “Students for Israel at Northeastern”, in honor of Israel Peace Week.  Israel Peace Week is an initiative adopted by student groups to send positive messages about Israel and Peace to students around the world.  Students’ photographs and many group discussions were the initial inspiration for this painting.  The words that are repeated throughout it are Shalom, which is peace in Hebrew, Salam, which is peace in Arabic and the word Peace written in English.  The large word in yellow is Ahava, which means love in Hebrew.  

This painting was created publicly in Northeastern’s Curry Student Center.  Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, African American, Dominican, Saudi Arabian, Iranian, Costa Rican, Lebanese, Kenyan, Israeli, Egyptian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Palestinian and Jamaican are just a few of the religions and countries of origin of the many students who participated in the project.  The painting will remain in the Curry Student Center permanently, but will be hung in rotating locations throughout the building in hopes of never becoming static and overlooked.