Artists 4 Israel

Jayne, student board member and coordinator for the Artists for Israel event held at University Park on Thursday April 21 reflects on the event as a whole. Check out the articles in the Daily Collegian from April 21, 2011 and April 22, 2011

The event may have been advertised to start at 11, but by 7 a.m. the artists and I were up preparing for the day ahead of us. After figuring out how to get all of the supplies onto the HUB lawn, the artists started building the temporary wall while I spread the remaining flyers, lugged the t-shirts across campus, and collected as many copies of The Daily Collegian as I could to prove that our event was a big deal on campus.

By 10:30, we were all ready to go, anxious for people to start showing up. The event may have started slowly, but it gradually built up to a fantastic afternoon. By noon the event was in full swing, with music playing and students crowding around the tent to meet the artists and see their mural. The graffiti artists were greatly received, and visitors seemed genuinely interested in learning about their cause. The event was definitely a new experience for Penn State’s campus, being both its first spray paint mural creation as well as one of it’s only outdoor educational programs accompanied by rap music. Throughout the day 200-300 students stopped by to see what was going on, and with each person that showed up, the artists used their outgoing enthusiastic characters to interact and get students excited about their piece. They got students so involved, that by mid-event they spontaneously built another wall (separate from their mural) for students to test their hand at graffiti art and voice their own passion for Israel.

Looking back on last Thursday, I can’t imagine the event going any better. I have had countless people contact me to learn more about the artists and find out how we can bring them back to campus, and I couldn’t be happier. I am so glad I was able to coordinate an event that combined two of my passions – art and Israel. This campus could definitely benefit from more public cultural events, and I hope to be involved in many more artistic and Israeli events within the next 2 years.