Community – A New Mural by MasPaz

Community, a new mural by MasPaz at The Cowboy Cafe, evolved out of a project by the Arlington Art Truck, a program of Arlington Arts. Unlike most Art Truck projects, designed as public interactions, Words to Art engages audiences virtually through social media. The first round occurred during four weeks in May at the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic in the Washington metropolitan area. Each Monday, participants were asked to post 

one word expressing their feelings and perception of life in quarantine on Arlington Arts’ Instagram, Facebook or Twitter pages. Arlington artists Sushmita Mazumdar (Buckingham), David Amoroso (Douglas Park), Maribeth Egan (Ballston/Virginia Square), Kate Fleming (Maywood) and MasPaz (Arlington Ridge) then each selected a word, turned it into art, and shared it back.

Seeing the artists’ expression of our words allows us to ponder our shared experience while navigating the unknown territory of this pandemic. The finished Words to Artworks are posted here.

The mural commissioned by The Cowboy Cafe is based on one of the four artworks created for Words to Art by artist MasPaz. MasPaz chose the word COMMUNITY that was posted by Barbara Radwan Wiehe (FB) and Alexandra Jabbarpour (IG). He states, “I chose digital illustration as my medium ​to represent a heartless system, where all we have is each other. 

#WeKeepUsSafe.” The mural represents the important role we all play in building community. It depicts a community member holding the neighborhood in her hands, patiently awaiting the peace dove to arrive. MasPaz is a muralist, art educator and conservationist who lives in Arlington Ridge.

Words to Art is a program of Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development, which delivers public activities as Arlington Arts. Arlington Arts worked together with Lee Highway Alliance to install the mural this summer.