Merjem Garic sings traditional and religious songs. She also creates painting of Arabic calligraphy.
Erie Arts & Culture received a Building Bridges grant from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art to build the capacity of artists from Muslim-majority countries and to share their traditions and culture. Artists from Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Turkey, and Guinea participated in this initiative.
Thanks to additional support from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA), ten artists worked with Stephanie Weiss, a teacher at McDowell Intermediate High School, and 20 of her film and journalism students through an Erie Arts & Culture Arts in Education teaching artist residency. The residency was led by Kelly Armor, a rostered teaching artist and the Director of Folk and Traditional Arts at Erie Arts & Culture. Due to COVID-19 Kelly and Stephanie re-imagined the residency and adapted it to digital platforms.
As part of their capacity building, artists gained baseline videography and digital file sharing skills. Students then interviewed the artists via Zoom, wrote feature articles based on their interviews, and created short, dynamic video portraits using footage from the artists and the interview sessions.
