Hope for Sri Lanka

For nine weeks of my 2015 Summer I was on the gorgeous island of Sri Lanka with a group of artists and peers from my college. We partnered with a youth reconciliation movement that has made huge strides in the post-war nation toward unity across ethnic lines. The organization, Sri Lanka Unites, strives toward the idea of "One Sri Lanka", a dream of all ethnicities prospering together in peace. 

One very full day during my trip was in partnership with my friends' initiative called Rise Sri Lanka which toured the country and painted large scale murals to support the vision of Sri Lanka Unites. The final day of painting in the country was in the capital city, Colombo. I was able to join Rise Sri Lanka by executing my own mural alongside a few others on a stretch of President's College's outer wall.

My mural of a budding lotus flower was a simple image which included a title in Singhala, the common language of the region, that spelled the word "hope". I am humbled by estimated millions that see this wall each week and I pray that it might remind each passersby that the nation holds beauty which can only continue to grow. 

To view the work of my exceptionally talented friends and peers from Rise Sri Lanka click to see their sites here:Chapman Bettis, David Popa and James Reese