“I went and took a bunch of pictures of different places. I was really hoping that they would fall in love with the space that it is in now and they did. Then our Chief Business Officer, Jamie Petit said that they can have that wall,” Jessica Lindberg said.
The Cartersville campus welcomes a new mural in the STEM building, crafted by two Israeli artists, Maya Gelfman and Roie Avidan. This mural, part of the “Mind the Heart” project, gives students a chance to contribute to its creation.
According to Avidan, the Wishing Wall is a project that aligns with their previous works, particularly the theme of blackbirds. However, the distinctive aspect of this project is that it features scrolls that carry people’s wishes.
Gelfman and Avidan visited students in various areas of study like art, film, nursing and ecology.
“We had a talk and gave them a question. Whoever wanted to participate sent in a wish and those are the ones that are printed on the scrolls,” Gelfman said. “There is a t.v. screen on the wall near the mural that is going to be exclusively scrolling through all the wishes anonymously. That digital wall, which tells you what is inside those scrolls, will keep living on.”
“If you look from the outside, in, then you see in certain hours of the day, the reflections of the trees makes the birds look like they are flying between the leaves,” Gelfman said.
The digital screen enables anyone, even after the artists have left, to contribute additional wishes to be displayed anonymously. Students can send in a wish by scanning the QR code on the wall near the mural.
“We’ve never done something that can go on living after we’ve left,” Gelman said.
“The Wishing Wall is its own project, but it connects to our previous works like the blackbirds which are a theme we work with, but with what we did here, these scrolls actually have people’s wishes on them. It was definitely connected and put together for GHC,” Roie Avidan said.
“Students who notice the mural will become momentarily aware of the space and the light. That moment of presence may make them more aware of themselves and through that, the present moment,” Avidan said. “Secondly, they will get an uplifting feeling while walking in. Their eyes will be pulled upwards, their gazes will follow the soaring birds.”
“The meaning of the birds and their connection to their tangle; almost everything that’s in the past such as where one comes from. Circumstance, upbringing, failures and triumphs can be a chain that holds them back or an engine that grants them wings,” Gelfman said. “It’s a matter of perspective and choice, of what you do with what you’ve got.”
Mind the Heart was founded in 2009 by Gelfman and Avidan and it has left its mark in over 100 cities across five continents. From the Israel National Museum to the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. and even orphanages in Kenya and Uganda.
The connection between GHC and the artists was established through the Israeli consulate and specifically, Dana Nichols at the University System of Georgia. The artists were temporarily residing with the Dean of Humanities, Jessica Lindberg, while in the United States.
Gelfman and Avidan incorporated students’ wishes on the scrolls as a way for the mural to continue living on after they have left. “That digital wall near the mural, which tells you what is inside those scrolls, will keep living on. So anybody, even now that we’ve left, who wants to add another wish to that digital screen can send it in.”
Lindberg walked around campus to see which place the mural would fit in once it was clear that a mural would be created.
“What I love about it is the way it looks from the outside too and the way the tree’s reflections are cast on the wall. It looks like you can see the trees both inside and outside, it’s just beautiful,” Lindberg said.
To learn more about the “Mind the Heart” project, visit www.mindtheheart.org, follow @mindtheheartproject on Instagram or contact them at [email protected].
