Cal State Long Beach students spray painted a large rectangular canvas wall on Monday, but it wasn’t an act of vandalism.
The students were participating in the third annual “Artists 4 Israel” event, which was held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. near the speaker’s platform on campus.
“On the front side, the artists are painting a mural of peace and a pro-Israel message, and on the back they’re wanting students to paint their message about what peace means to them,” said Kelsey Kimmes, senior theatre major and president of 49ers for Israel.
Since its founding in 2009, the organization has visited over 30 campuses and attracted hundreds of students to its events, according the the Artists 4 Israel website; however, some college campus visits have caused student protests, particularly from students involved in organizations representing the Israeli-occupied Palestinian state.
Still, director and co-founder of Artists 4 Israel Craig Dershowitz insists that the purpose of Artists 4 Israel events is to send a positive message to war-torn and conflicted communities and to express the cultural and religious diversity that exists in Israel.
He was also present at the event, handing out free spray-painted shirts with the words “My Art My Reasons” printed on the back to students gathered around the art display.
“Art is a way to way to express hope and healing and peace and it’s a way to bring everybody together,” Kimmes said.
Students chose to paint positive messages including peace signs and words like “Unity” and “Love, Just Love.” One student spray painted the hashtag ‘“#NoOneIsIllegal” on a corner of the canvas. Others opted to spray paint pictures, such as one of a woman with her arm around a man looking down.
Artists 4 Israel began doing college campus tours “on accident,” according to Dershowitz, who said they were first asked to visit a private high school in New Hampshire that was interested in an arts program in 2009.
“Some of the artists had been to Israel with us, and [the school] wanted us to talk about our experiences … so we said, ‘Sure, we’ll come and do it.’ Then some colleges started [asking for visits] and the program grew on its own,” he said. “… We think of communities and places that we can beautify and share the message of unity and peace. These days, college campuses tend to be some very divisive places, so we thought: where better?”