Date: APRIL
14, 2005
CONTACT:
Joyce Johnson: 202/942-0244,
Cell: 703/980-7641
jjohnson@cwla.org
Cuban-American Artist, Xavier Cortada,
Unveils Mural Honoring Children’s Memorial Flag
WASHINGTON DC
- Cuban-American artist and activist Xavier Cortada will
unveil an original mural in support of the Child Welfare
League of America’s (CWLA) Children’s Memorial Flag on
April 22 at the IDEA Public Charter School in Washington
DC.
Cortada’s mural will include
drawings and messages from IDEA School students and
concerned citizens nationwide about the issue of child
abuse and neglect and violence prevention. The
Miami-based artist (www.cortada.com)
has worked collaboratively with diverse groups across
the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Africa to
create pro-social community murals and
participant-driven art projects. Cortada’s artwork has
appeared at the White House, the World Bank, Hershey’s,
Nike, the World AIDS Conference, and the Miami-Dade
County Juvenile Courthouse.
Messages to be included in the
Children’s Memorial Flag mural can be submitted at
www.cwla.org/advocacy/memorialflagmural.htm
through April 19.
Cortada will
formally present the Children’s Memorial Flag mural to
the IDEA School—where it will be displayed for 10
years—during a ceremony with students, staff, and local
officials at 9 a.m. on April 22, which is Children’s
Memorial Flag Day. The IDEA School is located at 1027 45th
Street, NE, Washington DC.
Additionally,
IDEA students will show their commitment to nonviolence
and honor local children lost to abuse or neglect by
reading poetry, singing songs, and holding a candlelight
vigil during the Children’s Memorial Flag Day ceremony.
CWLA
initiated a partnership with the IDEA school after a
fire was deliberately set at the school during the early
morning hours of December 7. The fire caused substantial
damage to the building. To help the school community
heal, CWLA introduced an innovative poetry curriculum to
the 11th and 12th grade humanities
students. Through the poetry writing exercises, students
have been able to express their feelings about the fire
and its aftermath, as well as the realities of growing
up in an urban setting beset by violence and crime. They
presented their poetry in a Youth Poetry Slam at CWLA’s
National Conference March 9.
The IDEA
students will again publicly present their poetry during
the Children’s Memorial Flag Day ceremony. Washington DC
Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief, Adrian H.
Thompson; Executive Director of Charter Schools for the
District of Columbia Board of Education, Dr. Brenda
Belton; and a representative from the Office of the
Chief of Police will unite with the IDEA students
outside of the school building to raise the Children’s
Memorial Flag and unveil the mural.
“This mural
will serve as a powerful and visible reminder of how the
IDEA students overcame their struggles and their fears
from first-hand experience of violence in their
community and, through artistic expression and civic
engagement, created a masterpiece for their fellow and
future students to enjoy for years to come,” says Shay
Bilchik, CWLA President and CEO.
CWLA launched
the Children’s Memorial Flag Campaign in 1998 to draw
public awareness to the problem of nearly 3 million
children reported abused and neglected each year. The
campaign’s centerpiece is the Children’s Memorial Flag,
a banner depicting five doll-like figures of children
standing side-by-side, holding hands against a red
backdrop. A sixth child in the center is represented by
a thin, white chalk outline, symbolizing a child lost to
violence. In 2001, a Congressional bill designated the
fourth Friday in April National Children’s Memorial Flag
Day.
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