IWagePeace.Org Peace Painter`s News Letter #4 April 28th, 2010

IWagePeace.Org
Peace Painter’s News Letter #4
“We do not need to agree on everything to work together for peace.”
April 28th, 2010.
Congratulations, thank you, and well
done peacemakers!
Take Note:
Painting # 2 Saturday May1st.
Wewill paint the second canvas on
the New Haven Green this Saturday,
May 1st, from 12:00 noon to 4:00
P.M. open for public painting at the
Mayday festival. Please invite
everyone to come and help paint sign #2. This will be part of the Mayday Celebration
and offers great visibility. Please spread the word! www.Maydaynewhaven.Org
Painting For Peace Sign #1 (A narrative report)
One week before we painted, plans were laid for outdoor
painting. IWagePeace.Org Art director Russ Rainbolt, having
spent hours drawing the color by numbers graphics on two 14
foot by 48 foot billboard canvases, (see news letter #3) was
now calculating our paint and brush needs. Carol Perry,
manager of Keep-Safe Storage Inc. in West Haven, was
volunteering time and money acquiring painting cups,
cardboard cup holders, paper towels, tablecloths, tape, water
bottles, and sundry supplies needed for the event. Barrett
Outdoor Communications Inc. had built
and donated four public information
sandwich signs, and while I waited nervously for the names of your
painting teams for placement on the signs, I wrote press releases and
called news stations; all of us were watching the weather.
On Friday, April 23rd, we loaded the Barrett truck with paintbrushes,
color paint, cinder blocks (to hold the canvas down in the wind)
folding chairs and tables, two vinyl canvases, four sandwich board
signs, water bottles, and various odds and ends
needed for the event. The weather report looked
grim. Rain all day Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.
On Saturday afternoon, April 24th, Russell
Rainbolt and I settled on an indoor painting
project. Though Emails had gone out announcing,
“Rain or Shine,” we were laying plans for rain.
The Barrett sign shop (an office warehouse in nearby West Haven) was cleaned, swept,
and readied for public use, and Benjamin Breton, the sexton at Center Church, offered us
indoor (read dry) gathering space at their church, so we could greet the painters and hand
out driving directions to the warehouse.
IWagePeace.Org
Peace Painter’s News Letter #4
“We do not need to agree on everything to work together for peace.”
Sunday Morning, at 10:00 a.m., the rain was steady
with no signs of letting up. In the sign shop, we
unloaded the Barrett truck, set up the tables and
chairs, set out the sandwich signs, and readied the
canvas for painting. At 11:30 I visited the New
Haven green and saw that the rain had slowed to a
drizzle. I called Russ and we agreed to repack the
truck for outdoor painting.
We arrived at 12:30 on the Green. The grass was
wet, but our canvas was dry and we put people to work the moment they arrived, first one
on the canvas, then two, three, a dozen, two dozen, perhaps forty painters were on the
canvas at one time.
Like the parting of the Red Sea, the rains held off and the
painters painted. It was cold and grey, but our hearts and hands
were filled with color. Sarah Trobaugh arrived early, with
Artists for World Peace, but Woodmont
United Church of Christ youth group was
fast on the canvas, followed soon by
Mishkan Israel’s youth groups, with
Rabbi Brockman, and soon the Tree of
Life Community from Old Lyme U.C.C.
were there. The “God is still speaking”
Team led by the joyful Cynthia Robinson
painted away while Dr. Alli Antar with
his gentle grin watched the Berlin CT Mosque team join in the
painting. People wandering the Green read our sandwich board
signs, stopped and asked questions. Several joined us in painting
Aaron Good from Jay Street was there and I was pleased to see Rev. Allie Perry from
Shalom United Church of Christ with Charlie Pillsbury, join in the fun, along with Flo
Woodiel from West Hartford Citizens for Peace and Justice. The City of New Haven
Mayor John Destefano looked upon the painters with interest and spoke with Elik
Elhanan from Combatants For Peace.
We painted to live music on the bandstand, and at 2:30
when we were cold and tired, our brothers and sisters from
the Council of American-Islamic
Relations, lead by Mougi Dhauuadi,
arrived from New London. Painters
raised their hands inviting young
Muslim girls in headscarves and
young Muslim men to join them on
the canvas. Soon fresh painters filled the canvas finishing the
work others had begun. “Look there”, said Mougi to me, “She is
from Gaza, and she is painting the Israeli flag…, this is very
IWagePeace.Org
Peace Painter’s News Letter #4
“We do not need to agree on everything to work together for peace.”
special.” That’s when I noticed the members of Jews for Justice painting the Palestinian
flag, and I saw with what care people were painting the blue fabric on the Palestinian
kefiyah or the blue star of David.
By 4:00 the painting was done, though the air had grown chill,
damp, and threatening. At 5:30 the paint was dry and we
formed a line of rollers who rolled the canvas from end to end.
The grass was wet, and the back of the canvas was wet, forcing
us, as we rolled, to wipe dry the back of the canvas, before the
rolling it into the now drying paint. Our knees were covered
with grass stains as we rolled, wiped, and rolled, until
everything was packed and done.
Channel 8 news covered the event with a short spot that ran
Sunday evening and Monday morning. The Milford Mirror ran
a large article and the New Haven Register ran an article on
Saturday before the event, and Beth Lazar of WVOF radio at
Fairfield university conducting a 45 minute live radio interview. I
will try and get links to this coverage on our website.
Pledges stand at $6,000. Cash received to date stands at: $4,130.
A number of groups have not yet sent in their pledge. I will
contact you individually about your contributions. If all pledging
groups reach their goal, our total gross receipts will be $6,150.
Checks should be sent to PeaceMaker Films Inc. 381 Highland
Street, West Haven CT 06516. As Barrett Outdoor
Communications Inc. is covering all of our expenses, all of the
$6,150 will be sent to the Combatants For Peace.
PeaceMaker Films Inc. is a non-for profit 501(c)(3) corporation registered with the State
of Connecticut. Bruce Barrett, John Barrett, and David Griffin are the directors. We
created this entity to support this event and any future events on the horizon. Our legal
council is attorney Sam Rost of the law firm of Green and Gross in Bridgeport CT, our
accountant is Dave Gallagher of the firm of Capossela, Cohen LLC in Southport CT. If
you or your organization has any questions about our status, please feel free to contact me
directly. Corporate minutes and Bylaws are available upon request. We welcome your
contributions at any time.
For more photos or
information, please
visit
IWagePeace.Org
Bruce (203) 710-5675 cell
[email protected]