Pat Perry’s work with aptArt in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, in 2018 is shown. COURTESY PHOTO
BIDDEFORD — Pat Perry describes himself on his website as an artist who “writes and makes pictures through careful and cautious observation.”
The Michigan–based artist has traveled all over the country taking photographs, drawing images and painting large murals that reflect his sense of observation.
Later this month, Perry will be coming to Biddeford, to create a massive wall mural at 15 York St. between May 29 and June 1.
The completed mural will not only add a splash of color to a wall on the Pepperell Mill Campus, but will also pay homage to young people’s ideas of friendship.
Perry will also create a wall mural in Iraq, and both murals will be influenced by the ideas of friendship by two groups of young students – fourth- and fifth- graders from Biddeford Intermediate School and fifth-graders from the International School of Chouelfat in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. The students will also participate in some of the painting.
The project is called the One Blue Sky and is funded by The Good Works Foundation, based in Boston and coordinated by Engine, a Biddeford-based arts organization.
Organizers said in a written statement that the two finished murals will form a diptych, which, when viewed digitally, will be a symbol of shared humanity that reaches across boundaries.
The public is invited to meet Perry and others involved at an open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the mural site on June 1.
One Blue Sky Project is a street art project that aims to instill within children a shared humanity and bring together children from different cultures and backgrounds on opposite sides of the world to share in an artistic experience, according to its mission statement.
“The power of art to create understanding and empathy cannot be underestimated,” said Tammy Ackerman, executive director of Engine in a written statement.
One Blue Sky Project Excutive Director Laura Rodgers of Massachusetts said in a written statement that the birth of her granddaughter inspired the artistic endeavor, which is intended to help children across the globe connect and recognize what they have in common.
“I am a Jewish grandmother and I have a Muslim granddaughter whom I adore. I found that I had misperceptions about faith and culture that were changed by this very personal experience,” Rodgers said.
For more information, go to www.oneblueskyproject.org.
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be reached at 780-9015 or by email at egotthelf@journaltribune.com.
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