On this unseasonably warm and sunny day, students sit on the grassy knoll of McGill University’s expansive campus eating lunch and watching a couple of burly guys spray-painting on a large wooden canvas.
Images gradually appear: a Canadian flag, the word “peace,” and McGill’s avian mascot, the martlet. Then an Israeli flag and Hebrew lettering.
The men are Artists4Israel, professional American graffiti artists who tour college campuses in North America trying to create an image of Israel as other than a place of conflict.
This was the first time the New York-based program was in Montreal (McGill Nov. 8 and Concordia University Nov. 9), and it generated curiosity, which pleased Artists4Israel co-founder and director Craig Dershowitz.
The team, which included three artists, set up panels with a total footage of 8-by-16 feet. For three hours, they worked on tableaux that included the program’s message of “shalom” and elements the sponsoring organizations requested, such as the Canadian and university motifs.
On the other side, anyone could pick up a spray can and draw or write anything. The space was quickly filled with names and doodles, and even “Go Habs Go.”
The main sponsor at McGill was the campus Chabad centre, joined by StandWithUs Canada and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs’ Size Doesn’t Matter. At Concordia, where the mural was set up indoors, the chief underwriter was B’nai Brith Canada.
Artists4Israel was founded in 2009 after Israel’s war in Gaza, known as Operation Cast Lead. Dershowitz, who at the time worked for the financial services firm Morgan Stanley, felt something had to be done to defuse the tensions the conflict aroused, but wanted to avoid overt politics.
Until then, he had been “very much outside” the Jewish community and uninterested in Israel advocacy. He organized an exhibition at a small Lower East Side gallery where artists could express their perceptions of Israel. The response was overwhelming, attracting some 500 submissions.
Dershowitz found that the artistic community was not hostile to Israel, but more commonly “apathetic or under-educated” about it. “We provide an alternative narrative, a counter-opinion based on the arts and culture. It’s an entry point to the larger political issues.”
Last year, Artists4Israel visited 53 campuses, including Toronto’s York University. It has a roster of 200 artists it can call on. Dershowitz said there has been an occasional protest by pro-Palestinians, but never a serious incident.
On the contrary, the live painting has brought out large numbers of students who would not go to partisan activities related to the Middle East conflict. This is a catalyst for casual discussion, not heated debate, said Dershowitz, 39.
Although not an artist himself, he looks the part with tattoos covering his arms and neck, his funky knitted cap and high tops.
Artists4Israel, which is a “self-sustaining, independent” organization, also sends artists to Israel. To date, over 100 from 21 countries have toured the country, where they paint murals in disadvantaged neighbourhoods or those hit by enemy missiles, and in facilities like youth villages and women’s shelters. After this exposure, they can speak to students about what they saw there, Dershowitz said.
Vincent Santorella of New Jersey is one of the artists. Involved with Artists4Israel for about six years, he spent three weeks in Israel, visiting Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the Golan.
“I was not that interested in Israel before,” he said, as he painted personalized T-shirts being given away to a line-up of students. “I had no strong opinions and still don’t, but this is a great cause.”
He’s witnessed the power of art to quell a situation that might have escalated into confrontation.
“We were at Texas A&M when SJP [Students for Justice in Palestine] held a protest. They were carrying signs. In the end, they were painting with us. They saw that protesting would just defeat their whole purpose,” Santorella said.
The finished works find different homes. At the University of Pittsburgh, for example, the mural went into the Andy Warhol Museum.
The McGill one will be used as the walls of Chabad McGill’s sukkah next year, director Rabbi Shmuely Weiss said.
“This project may not change the minds of those who are set in their opinions on either side of the conflict, but for those who know little, it’s a less intimidating way to find out things for themselves than going to some rally or other.”
Eva Chorna, the student chair of the McGill event, feels Artists4Israel will have an impact on students who are not that aware of Israel, and has already been a conversation starter.
Beside the mural was a large poster declaring that Israel is a country of “Diversity: A Melting Pot of Cultures and Ethnicities,” and another indicating that it “shares values” with Canada.
In addition to the T-shirts, passersby had their pick of plenty of swag that promoted Israel, offered by the sponsors, everything from phone covers to earbuds to beer cozies.
