An overview of an international art mural project - the International Mural by Mail
The John Daniel Teply Gallery and Atelier organized two global art festivals. One in 2023 at the Lloyd Center, Portland, Oregon, and the other in 2021 at the Elisabeth Jones Art Center in Portland, Oregon (where John Daniel Teply was Executive Director). Each festival had identical aesthetic formats, though the nationality and culture expressed differed. A total of 17 countries were celebrated. The following will expound on the 2023 festival at the Lloyd Center, Portland, Oregon.
In 2023 the John Daniel Teply Gallery and Atelier founded the International Arts Festival (IAF). The IAF was hosted in a 10,000 square-foot facility at the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon. The festival lasted for seven months, with a new country being featured every two weeks. Key to the IAF was the International Mural by Mail (IMxM) project; a diverse and beautiful series of 8' x 16' paintings created through a cultural exchange between a group of international and local artists. Despite the global distance, the paintings were completed entirely through a series of exchanges by mail. The spirit of the project can be summarized by Jasper Johns famous instruction:"take an object, do something to it, do something else to it, (repeat)," Which each artist did when a canvas was exchanged.
The paintings were of primary importance, but also integral to the IAF was a cultural overlay of music, dance, food, films, interviews, international guest, and activities representative of where the international artist called home. This provided, tangible "other nation, other culture" context, and an immersive experience for viewers, the only parameter being: how can we do this in the confined space of the galleryin Portland, Oregon?
The 2023 Lloyd Center "International Art Festival" started with Ukraine, followed by Nigeria, India and a series of countries and culture, accumulating to 10 in total. Each country's festival had six basic events;
1) The exhibition of the collaborative 8' x 16' IMxM paintings.
2) An international Zoom call, in which the international artist would engage the audience in Portland, Oregon, with an artist talk. This included a "question and answer" section by Zoom interview.
3) A puppet show by local Portland puppeteer Bill Holznagle, created from folk stories from the featured country.
4) A craft workshop for adults and young people people creating copper pens of national animals.
5) A live tour, via international Zoom, of a gallery or museum in the featured country.
6) A live cooking show done through international Zoom, in which a national food would be prepared by instruction simultaneously in both the featured country and in Portland, Oregon.
Aside from the basic events, each country also had unique events. Although certainly not an exhaustive list for the entire seven months, some highlights were events for China, Nigeria, Palestine, Ukraine, and Mexico. During the event with China, our local team, were invited to the Suzhou Chinese gardens in Portland ( a replica of the garden in Suzhou China) and participated in a Chinese tea ceremony performed by the Tea Garden manager. In attendance, for our tea ceremony were young women dressed in historical Chinese gowns from fifth century China, the events communicated via international Zoom. For Nigeria, Nigerian artist O'Yemi Tubi flew to Portland and hosted a craft workshop, making toys from found materials as he did as a young boy in his home country. For our Palestine event, Hala Barahmeh joined us live via International Zoom from Ramallah, Palestine for a cooking show, where she demonstrated how to make "an authentic" hummus, which was prepared simultaneously in Portland for hungry Portlanders. A Middle Eastern and Pacific Northwest simultaneous food experience. This was followed by a Palestinian Film Festival accompanied international Zoom interviews with directors and film principals. As part of the Ukraine event, seven war poems, written by celebrated Ukrainian poet, Halyna Kruk's poems were interpreted by 15 local artists in Portland, either through one-act plays, dances, or music. During the Mexico event, traditional folk dances were performed in the town Square in Cholula, Mexico, and were experienced live to audiences in Portland through international Zoom.
In each case, this incredible diversity of events originated through the exploration of themes originating in the International Mural by Mail paintings.
The John Daniel Teply Gallery and Atelier organized two global art festivals. One in 2023 at the Lloyd Center, Portland, Oregon, and the other in 2021 at the Elisabeth Jones Art Center in Portland, Oregon (where John Daniel Teply was Executive Director). Each festival had identical aesthetic formats, though the nationality and culture expressed differed. A total of 17 countries were celebrated. The following will expound on the 2023 festival at the Lloyd Center, Portland, Oregon.
In 2023 the John Daniel Teply Gallery and Atelier founded the International Arts Festival (IAF). The IAF was hosted in a 10,000 square-foot facility at the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon. The festival lasted for seven months, with a new country being featured every two weeks. Key to the IAF was the International Mural by Mail (IMxM) project; a diverse and beautiful series of 8' x 16' paintings created through a cultural exchange between a group of international and local artists. Despite the global distance, the paintings were completed entirely through a series of exchanges by mail. The spirit of the project can be summarized by Jasper Johns famous instruction:"take an object, do something to it, do something else to it, (repeat)," Which each artist did when a canvas was exchanged.
The paintings were of primary importance, but also integral to the IAF was a cultural overlay of music, dance, food, films, interviews, international guest, and activities representative of where the international artist called home. This provided, tangible "other nation, other culture" context, and an immersive experience for viewers, the only parameter being: how can we do this in the confined space of the galleryin Portland, Oregon?
The 2023 Lloyd Center "International Art Festival" started with Ukraine, followed by Nigeria, India and a series of countries and culture, accumulating to 10 in total. Each country's festival had six basic events;
1) The exhibition of the collaborative 8' x 16' IMxM paintings.
2) An international Zoom call, in which the international artist would engage the audience in Portland, Oregon, with an artist talk. This included a "question and answer" section by Zoom interview.
3) A puppet show by local Portland puppeteer Bill Holznagle, created from folk stories from the featured country.
4) A craft workshop for adults and young people people creating copper pens of national animals.
5) A live tour, via international Zoom, of a gallery or museum in the featured country.
6) A live cooking show done through international Zoom, in which a national food would be prepared by instruction simultaneously in both the featured country and in Portland, Oregon.
Aside from the basic events, each country also had unique events. Although certainly not an exhaustive list for the entire seven months, some highlights were events for China, Nigeria, Palestine, Ukraine, and Mexico. During the event with China, our local team, were invited to the Suzhou Chinese gardens in Portland ( a replica of the garden in Suzhou China) and participated in a Chinese tea ceremony performed by the Tea Garden manager. In attendance, for our tea ceremony were young women dressed in historical Chinese gowns from fifth century China, the events communicated via international Zoom. For Nigeria, Nigerian artist O'Yemi Tubi flew to Portland and hosted a craft workshop, making toys from found materials as he did as a young boy in his home country. For our Palestine event, Hala Barahmeh joined us live via International Zoom from Ramallah, Palestine for a cooking show, where she demonstrated how to make "an authentic" hummus, which was prepared simultaneously in Portland for hungry Portlanders. A Middle Eastern and Pacific Northwest simultaneous food experience. This was followed by a Palestinian Film Festival accompanied international Zoom interviews with directors and film principals. As part of the Ukraine event, seven war poems, written by celebrated Ukrainian poet, Halyna Kruk's poems were interpreted by 15 local artists in Portland, either through one-act plays, dances, or music. During the Mexico event, traditional folk dances were performed in the town Square in Cholula, Mexico, and were experienced live to audiences in Portland through international Zoom.
In each case, this incredible diversity of events originated through the exploration of themes originating in the International Mural by Mail paintings.
International Artists
Ukraine:
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Afghanistan:
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China:
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ABOUT THE PROJECT
The International Mural by Mail is a project designed to give artists the opportunity to network and communicate visually with other artists on a global scale. We are currently working with over 20 artists from all over the world, such as Iran, Palestine, India, China and Ukraine.
This series of large-scale murals is created jointly by artists of diverse cultural backgrounds and artistic ideas, in a collaborative exchange conducted entirely by mail. On one end, a mural is completed by the participating international artist, on the other end, another mural is completed by local Portland artists. The two murals are started in one location and then mailed back and forth to the other location, as the artists add to each other's work.
This exchange will continue until an artist determines a composition is complete, and thereupon creates a finished painting based on the drawing that has been exchanged.
Scroll below to look at some of the current and past artists who have participated in this project!
The International Mural by Mail is a project designed to give artists the opportunity to network and communicate visually with other artists on a global scale. We are currently working with over 20 artists from all over the world, such as Iran, Palestine, India, China and Ukraine.
This series of large-scale murals is created jointly by artists of diverse cultural backgrounds and artistic ideas, in a collaborative exchange conducted entirely by mail. On one end, a mural is completed by the participating international artist, on the other end, another mural is completed by local Portland artists. The two murals are started in one location and then mailed back and forth to the other location, as the artists add to each other's work.
This exchange will continue until an artist determines a composition is complete, and thereupon creates a finished painting based on the drawing that has been exchanged.
Scroll below to look at some of the current and past artists who have participated in this project!