PUBLIC ART FOR RACIAL JUSTICE EDUCATION
LEARN HOW PARJE IS HELPING SPEARHEAD A MORE DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICA: CLICK HERE
WHAT IS PARJE?
A GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS COMMITTED TO BRINGING COMMUNITIES TOGETHER TO ACHIEVE RACIAL JUSTICE THROUGH ART
We commission and engage artists to create Public Art + Educational Programming for each of our communities in Eastern Connecticut. Town by town, working in partnership with art schools, museums, faith communities, civic organizations and concerned citizens we provide opportunities and models for community engagement through public art appropriate for each site and locality.
PARJE LECTURES
Watch Dr. David Canton at the Lyman Art Museum talk about Black art and politics.
PARJE teamed up with the Lyman Allyn Museum to co-sponsor a lecture conjunction with their show Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art.
SEE PARJE
ON NBC NEWS
Featured on NBC News (March 24 2021) talking about our Sister Mural Project. We have since expanded this project to include New London, Old Lyme, Norwich, and East Lyme.
SISTER MURAL PROJECT
Our Sister Murals Project has installed 5 murals to date
(in Norwich, East Lyme, Old Saybrook, New London, and Old Lyme).
From research to creation to use, this project brings together these CT towns to form a larger sense of community. Together we will transform unused neglected spaces to create new community spaces for gatherings, education, and contemplation.
“Our goal is to create a beloved community. And This will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
EDUCATION
PARJE provides both virtual and in-person educational opportunities. From engaging kids with coloring book pages whose content includes local social justice history to hosting talks by leaders in contemporary arts in our free Arts & Advocacy video library - PARJE’s goal is to build better advocates for racial justice.
WHOSE LAND ARE YOU ON?
It is important to learn more about the spaces that we inhabit in order to improve both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people’s sense of community and belonging. Use the link below to find out which Indigenous lands you live on using an interactive map
JOIN US
PARJE is a group of volunteers just like you. Please join our mailing list to hear more about how you can help with upcoming projects and events.
MORE PROJECTS
EDMUND PETTUS BRIDGE DIPTYCH
Commissioned by PARJE, the Edmund Pettus Bridge Diptych is a two-paneled painting connected by a hinge and surrounded by a closeable box. The work reflects on the Edmund Pettus Bridge., which played a pivotal part in our country’s Civil and Voting Rights history. The hinged painting and closeable box reference renaissance traveling altars. It is our hope this work will travel widely to foster conversation in our community and beyond.
THE GREAT AMERICANS PROJECT
A collection of oversized coloring book pages, form a compact portable “mural”. These artworks are created during community events (at museums, art fairs, town gatherings, libraries, and more) to engage audiences in racial justice conversations while creating art! During events, local children and adults create art, foster discussion, and explore historical topics of local and national importance.
The panels are modular and as we complete more events, the number of topics grows until it becomes a giant quilt-like celebration of community-created educational artwork.