Tawfilis, Joanne. Interview October 31, 2022.

Joanne Tawfilis is the executive director of the Art Miles Mural Project, which has had the participation of over 500,000 people from 125 countries to paint murals. Tawfilis and her late husband Fouad started the Art Miles Mural Project after Tawfilis worked with orphans in Bosnia, where they created a murals using the only materials available -- a 10 gallon can of white wall pain and bedsheets riddled with bullet holes. The Art Miles Mural Project is currently homed at the Muramid Arts and Cultural Center in Oceanside, California, where there are electronic displays of over 5,000 murals, art classes, music, and spoken word performances.

Tawfilis has had a storied career and has worked with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Women of Srebrenica Project, and UNESCO. In her interview, Tawfillis discusses her career working as a civilian employee of the military, as well as her work with the United Nations, IAEA, and the Women of Srebrenica Project. Tawfilis also discusses the creation of the Art Miles Mural Project, the Muramid Arts and Cultural Center, and her thoughts on art as a vehicle for healing, empathy, and peace.

2022-10-31

California State University San Marcos University Library

Joanne Tawfilis

video

SC027-052

Oral Histories

Activists and activism, Community history, North County Oral History Initiative, Politics and governance, Women's experience

Joanne Tawfilis, “Tawfilis, Joanne. Interview October 31, 2022.,” Voices of North County, accessed December 21, 2024, https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/items/show/330.