J Rêve Intl’s “Choose Love” Global Public Art project now in Burkina Faso

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”  -Edgar Degas


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We are pleased to announce the completion of our latest “Choose Love” public art mural project, at ESPACE 53 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso by Yanne Rafael Zefack.  

Zefack explains “Masks have long played a big part in our country. They are a symbol of tolerance, harmony, and cohesion between communities. The two masks kissing, express love, solidarity, and trust among us, in our value. This illustration is a message of peace and love. I received a lot of appreciation from my brothers and sisters of Burkina Faso when they found out the reason behind the mural. it was a great feeling to see the impact on the community.”

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Muralist Yanne Rafael Zefack

We’re spreading love around the world.  The J Rêve “Choose Love” murals can also be found in MozambiqueHaitiSenegal, and Oakland. Artists commissioned to participate in this program, aim to ‘inject’ love not only in local communities, in cyberspace.  The initial phase of the project includes a series of murals in the selected cities, and later stages will include the development of an online interactive inclusive community around the theme of public art and love.   The project empowers young generations of artists to globally co-create, inspire, and visualize positivity while creating a cross-cultural interactive cyber and local dialogue about possibilities, emotional intelligence, and love for the community and environment.

The impact of public art on communities is great. J Rêve International acknowledges that public art benefits the community through bringing people together, placemaking and positively affecting economic development.  The Knight Foundation’s Soul of the Community initiative surveyed some 43,000 people in 43 cities and found that “social offerings, openness, and welcome-ness,” and, importantly, the “aesthetics of a place – its art, parks, and green spaces,” ranked higher than education, safety, and the local economy as a “driver of attachment.”  

The organization, Americans for the Arts, published a report on the value of public art.  Paul G. Allen, Co-Founder, Microsoft, supports community arts initiatives in his statement, “In my own philanthropy and business endeavors, I have seen the critical role that the arts play in stimulating creativity and in developing vital communities….the arts have a crucial impact on our economy and are an important catalyst for learning, discovery, and achievement in our country.”  Our goal at J Rêve International is to cultivate global creativity, and our public art project, now in 5 countries as of September 2016, is an effort we are very proud of.  To learn more or to support this initiative, contact info@jreveinternational.com.

All Mural photos listed on this page © J Rêve International LLC

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