Painting ourselves
V
S
I
B
I
L
E
Photo by Ameena Khan
About the mural
The project, titled “Painting Ourselves Visible,” seeks to celebrate and increase the visibility of Arab, Middle Eastern/North African (MENA), and Muslim communities in the Tampa area. Art2Action received the “Treasure Tampa” grant for this project, with a substantial $30,000 award, from the Gobioff Foundation—a Tampa Bay-based private family foundation that has made it their mission to support the arts community of Tampa, FL. Additional programming support comes from the Alternate ROOTS “Partners in Action” program and Learning Exchange.
​
Aya Tarek is a prolific young artist who creates large-scale murals all over the world, from Cairo to Berlin, Sao Paolo to Portland, OR. Tarek first came to Tampa in 2015-16, as a featured artist in Art2Action’s “THIS Bridge: Arab, Middle Eastern and Muslim Artists” series, in partnership with the USF Contemporary Art Museum and Graphicstudio. Tarek considers herself to be an experimental artist who practices vast creative freedom in her work.
About the artist
Photo by Pat Blocher
Community Happenings
Art2Action and Gallery221@HCC host Aya Tarek, and 3 days of events to celebrate a new mural, with music, film screenings, and performances!
​
Events include a “Block Party” featuring Arab and American Hip Hop; and an outdoor screening of an Egyptian film, titled Microphone (in Arabic, with English subtitles), which features Aya Tarek as herself—a graffiti artist in Alexandria in 2010. There will also be a panel discussion on “Creative Placemaking,” with a delicious Middle Eastern lunch; and free arts workshops for all, including visual arts with Ameena Khan, theatre with Andrea Assaf and Kholoud Sawaf, and more—all skills, levels and abilities welcome (no previous arts experience required)!
All events are FREE and open to the public, and will take place on the HCC Dale Mabry Campus (4001 W Tampa Bay Blvd, Tampa, FL 33614).