peace art: endings and beginnings

goodbyes and all sorts of little finish lines are starting to rain down from that dark cloud called 'the end of Anna's year in Camden'. the final session of the Camden Peace Art Project was held on Monday. St. Anthony of Padua school ended Tuesday, so no more Friday morning music classes with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. only a few weeks left until Francis House and ESL finish up.

and yet little seeds of new beginnings have sprouted from the same ground that tears up sometimes to think of leaving. the Peace Art mural unveiling and community rally was the first public action that i have had a hand (and a good chunk of my mind and heart invested, too) in actually organizing and emceeing!! rather than just participating or attending. possibly the beginning of a beautiful friendship, me and my buddy community organizing...i loved it! numbers in attendance were a little disappointing, because it was a weekday afternoon when a lot of people were still at work, and only a half day of school at St. Anthony's so we lost a lot of parents and kids who might have been there otherwise. but the message came through strong and clear, and apparently a few people thought it was worth listening to. !!!

the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article on the front page of their South Jersey/B section;

the Catholic Star Herald gave us a pretty good review, too;

the Courier Post posted a series of photos here;

more photos can be found on the St. Anthony's Flickr photostream;

and there's a fantastic video on facebook that my boss, Katie Sullivan, program director of FVM, put together..don't think i can link to it, though..

so, Monday's celebration marked the culmination of our work, but only the beginning of the LOC's work to take back our park. we have to follow up with the city police who have put forth their intention of cooperation...we have to cuss out (politely) the county police and county parks management who assured us of their attendance and then called our organizer 20 minutes before the event and cancelled..because they're getting millions of dollars to put into renovating two waterfront parks...why would they care to come to an event that's trying to restore a little place in Cramer Hill? a little place with a big purpose, big needs, and big heart, which they obviously don't understand.

it's evident from the mural itself that this place is ready for new beginnings: the garden being tended, a kid being coached in baseball, a family posing in front of a sunrise, butterflies floating in the clouds, people holding hands around a beautiful tree...and these are not just pretty pictures, but these are the things that were 'won' from this process so far:

- Camden City Police Chief Thomson and representatives from the Mayor Redd office came together to publicly commit to keeping Von Nieda Park safe and clean.

- Camden City Police created bilingual flyers for the first time explaining illegal activities and fines in the park.

- Camden City Police will begin enforcing parking, littering, and public drinking ordinances in Von Nieda Park the weekend of July 10th, after a community relations campaign.

- Camden City Police impounded over 15 ATVs since the action County Parks Dept put up 10 new “No Parking/No Drinking/No Littering” signs around the park.

-Camden City Council passed an ordinance making parking illegal on the west side of 29th Street, where it has often been a hazardously congested area.

it's exciting that we have these commitments and possibilities, but i do confess my sadness that i won't be around for the next year to see it unfold...because, as some of you readers probably already know through different channels, i will be living in Belgrade, Serbia starting in mid-August! i'm excited to see what kind of mixture of darkness and light will be shed on my life there..and what kind of light and shadows i will be called to share...

dear friends, may we all take up our paintbrushes or pens or cameras or baseballs or soccer balls or whatever instruments of creativity and influence we are blessed to be able to use, and follow through on the call within us to care for the people around us.

peace art: insanity today. please pray. with a smile :)

Camden Peace Art Project has been working since the beginning of May with a local artist and our kids as well as kids from the Cramer Hill Little League to design and paint a community mural on the baseball building in our neighborhood park. This park has a reputation as a place where numerous drug deals happen daily, public drinking gets out of hand every weekend, hazardous parking and illegal vending and littering is rampant, and reckless ATV drivers endanger the people who come to enjoy the playground and sports fields.

So, we have taken this opportunity to collaborate with our church and local organizing committee and nearby residents to get a commitment from the city and county police that they will be more proactive in patrolling and enforcing the rules of the park so that we can preserve this community treasure as a safe, clean, and fun place for families to come. I have spent many hours this past week painting alongside the artist and kids of all ages, because TODAY, June 21, at 3:30 pm is the mural unveiling celebration and public rally.

It is already getting some attention, because a number of city officials and police representatives have agreed to come out and make a public commitment to taking action on these problems. Prayers are much needed for the success of this event and for continued cooperation of everyone to care for the park and to restore our streets.

This is the prayer on our hearts as organizers, from Isaiah 58:11-12,

"The LORD will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

and will raise up the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."

La paz y el arte, amigos :)

i.saw.Jesus.tossing.water.balloons.

yes, throwing and welcoming the splash of water balloons on a steamy day. and doing the Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance and the Electric Slide. and sipping orange soda. and jumping in puddles. and sitting on the steps or the curb, watching the fun, too tired or strung out to jump in. and standing under a tent roof surrounded by sound equipment and speakers. and running down the street trying to fly a flimsy kite for the first time ever.

all at the same time, you ask?! oh yes, there was a lot of Jesus to go around at the St. Francis Inn's annual block party on Sunday.

if you looked closely, you might have seen Jesus watching over a little one in a stroller, with a beautiful bulging belly indicating another one on the way.

you might have seen Jesus running around, threading through the legs of the grown-ups, popping all the balloons he can get his hands on and wading in the kiddie pool fully-clothed.

you might have seen Jesus wearing tight jeans and an undershirt, or perhaps a sundress, or a sweatsuit, each pulling off a near-perfect zombie impersonation to Michael Jackson's THRILLER.

you might have seen Jesus wearing an outrageous clown hat and a brown habit, spinning records to keep the party funky.

you might have heard Jesus telling the saga of his real life science fiction fantasy powers and self-proclaimed guardianship of the party and genuine pleasure to meet you in snatches of intelligible speech to anyone who will listen.

you might have even taken the hand of a 3-foot-tall Jesus in a flowery lavender dress and danced in a ring with her and her grandma, and twirled her around a couple of times.

maybe next year you'll be there to see Jesus with a camera around her neck, snapping hundreds of pictures of the precious and crazy and ordinary moments that burst open and splashed us all with life that afternoon.

(photos by Katie Sullivan :)