NCC Participates in International Peace Project

Northampton Community College’s (NCC) Art Department is participating in the International Children's Peace Mural Project. With the slogan, “Painting Together for a Peaceful World,” the mural project allows youth to create art on canvases the same size as Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” in different places around the world.  

Picasso painted the “Guernica” in response to the bombing of the town of Guernica, Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Known around the world as an anti-war statement, it features a high contrast monochromatic palette and symbolic imagery that portrays the horrors of violence and suffering caused by war, especially on civilians.  

The murals are, much like the original, a direct opposition to war and strife. These modern-day movable murals represent the metaphor of removing separation from countries, bringing different cultures together from a common cause.   

NCC partnered with a renowned artist with deep rooted connection to surrealism, Rick Garcia, in the creation of a full-scale replica of the original “Guernica” painting on canvas. Garcia did it all freehand, in a grid pattern, a 1- by 1-foot block at a time. The whole piece is the same size as the original at 11.5- by 25.5-feet. NCC’s rendition is grayscale, painted with three large blank red hearts.   

Children from Tracy Elementary School and Bethlehem Campus Reibman Hall Children’s Center contributed their own artwork on the mural this summer. They were later joined by three students visiting from Tondabayashi, Japan and fine art students, Raina Rodriguez and Adeola Oke, to complete the painting. 

“As part of this learning experience, and to prepare them for the mural, our young artists and students were encouraged to talk about their ideas and feelings on peace, harmony, and love in the world,” says NCC’s Art Director, Tom Shillea. “They were then given an opportunity to draw pictures of the things that make them feel happy and safe within the blank hearts on the canvas. The elementary school children had assistance from their teachers to transfer their sketches onto the mural using magic markers and colored pencils, applying similar methods used by Picasso and the great Italian mural artists from the Renaissance.” 

Many similar murals around the world currently hang in places like Spain, Japan, Indonesia, Greece, Italy, America, and Cuba. The idea for bringing the project to the Lehigh Valley came from Fumiko Green.  

Fumiko “Miko” Green is a dynamic advocate for global experiential learning with over 35 years of international leadership in technology and social innovation. After spending more than four decades in the United States, Green returned to her native Japan in late 2019 to dedicate herself to youth-centered knowledge-sharing programs. Her mission is to connect Japanese youth with peers around the world through English communication and hands-on engagement with global issues. Green started global cross-cultural experiential learning activities in hopes of connecting many people across all walks of life. 
 

Green learned about the Children's Peace Mural Project in 2024 when she attended the World Peace Interfaith Gathering event in New York City. A mural from Ukraine and another from Japan were brought in for the event. 

“I became interested in starting our own, the first banner in Lehigh Valley. The project leadership shares this vision of connecting and empowering the young generation,” says Green. 

Green helped connect NCC with the project. As a close personal friend of Green, Garcia learned about the project and was on board for the replica. Having lived in Bethlehem for ten years, Green says Bethlehem is her second home, and she knew NCC would be a great partner in bringing this mural project to Japan’s sister city. 

NCC and Green have partnered before on other cultural events and learning experiences at the college, including a Japanese music and dance event and trips with NCC students to study abroad in Japan. 

“This project is a perfect example of how art can change the world, and it will certainly be a life-changing experience for the youth who are our best hope for the future of peace in our world,” says Shillea. 

On September 6, the mural will be used in the celebration of Bethlehem’s World Heritage Designation. A week later, on September 13 from 1 - 4 p.m., the mural will be hung at the Bethlehem Public Library during a vibrant celebration as a part of the 2025-26 Bethlehem Japan Peace Project, Beacons of Hope through Art & Music. The project is a series of art and musical performances to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. This project will celebrate the longstanding 60+ year sister city relationship between Bethlehem, PA and Tondabayashi, Japan. 

Because of its mobility, the mural can be featured at different peace events throughout the world. It will head to Japan this November as a part of the Fujinomiya City Kids Guernica display at the foot of Mt. Fuji. 

“I think, overall, this is a story of the ‘power of a human network,’ where like-minded people come together for a common mission. I am very hopeful, the banner these students participated in will travel around the world. That is very exciting for the children to see their art travelling for PEACE,” says Green.