Painting4Diversity is a statewide project by contemporary visual artist Edwin Gil in partnership with Michele Shaul and the Departments of Art and World Languages at Queens University of Charlotte, that invites children from several communities of North Carolina to create original paintings inspired by their own definition of diversity. The goal is to promote and embrace diversity and multicultura
l awareness in North Carolina through the arts. Through the recently completed social service project Flag of Hope, Edwin Gil, crafted the nation’s first diversity flag made with over 10,000 handprints and stories of North Carolina’s residents. This project promoted hope and understanding within North Carolina’s diverse communities, as well as raised awareness around diversity and acceptance. North Carolina (as many other states in the US) had experienced a fast and exponential growth of diverse populations during the last decade. This growth drives the need and desire in our communities for more social service projects like Flag of Hope, to foster connections across differences using the arts as a powerful tool to do so. Painting4Diversity will build up on the momentum, community partnerships and the positive community response experienced with Flag of Hope to continue carrying the message of unity among diverse communities.
