Joel Bergner: Visiting Artist in Brasilia 2010

Friday, November 19, 2010

In the afternoon Joel was off to Sobradinho, where he visited a folkloric arts center and a local artist, Toninho de Souza. He then made a presentation of his work at the language school Centro de Línguas. A group of students there will be traveling to Washington DC in 2011 through a Partners of the Americas program called Ambassadors of Peace.

Joel with the famous cows of Maranhão

Joel and Gersion visit Toninho de Souza

The students of the language school after Joel's presentation

About Joel Bergner

See Joel's work at www.joelsmurals.com
Joel Bergner is an award-winning mural artist whose work, focusing on issues of culture, diversity and history, explores a variety of local and international social issues. His murals are brightly- colored, intense and detailed, and are currently on display in many US cities such as Washington DC, San Francisco, Chicago and Baltimore, and abroad in Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador and Peru. Joel leads youth mural projects and often collaborates with artists and organizations. In 2010 Joel was a featured artist in the Amnesty International Human Right Art Festival.
Joel’s artwork is heavily inspired by his community-based work in many US cities and abroad, including positions with a variety of non-profit organizations. Joel has taught in a juvenile detention center and worked with foster youth, international refugees, the homeless and the mentally ill. He spent years counseling marginalized youth who were struggling with issues such as violence, prostitution, and drugs. Joel has taught English and Art in El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and in the shantytowns of Brazil (favelas) and speaks Spanish and Portuguese fluently. He was an International Election Observer for the 2004 presidential election in El Salvador. He has worked with the International Rescue Committee, the Latin American Youth Center (Washington DC), CUFA (Rio de Janeiro), Seneca Center (San Francisco), CIS (El Salvador), CASA de Maryland, Partners of the Americas and many others. see more