Painting Peace Walls: Canvases for Conversation & Change

Madeleine Thompson '19
Theology and Peace Studies Major, CST Minor

Painting Peace Walls: Canvases for Conversation & Change

As a senior studying theology and peace studies with a minor in Catholic Social Tradition, I have spent my undergraduate career learning about conflict, violence, division, reconciliation, peace, community, human dignity, justice, faith in action, and more. My particular interests in these fields overlap in the form of restorative justice – asking where community members have experienced harm, seeking to address and meet the needs of those harmed, and working to repair relationships. My courses of study has allowed me to take an interdisciplinary approach to the work of peacebuilding. More particularly, my Catholic Social Tradition capstone allows me the opportunity to synthesize my learning through a variety of media. My plan for my capstone is to explore the power walls—when painted with messages of protest, calls for peace, or challenges to re-think reality—have to begin challenging conversations and sowing the seeds of change. For my capstone project I hope to explore this idea through the creation of a “wall” built of painted canvases with messages rooted in Catholic Social Tradition that seek to reflect other walls around the world which have brought about questions of social justice, particularly those in Israel and the Palestinian territories as well as those in Northern Ireland.


Painting Peace Walls Presentation

Painting Peace Walls Project Description