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Perspective Newsletters
Fall 2002
LEARY SCHOOL, PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY
Page 6
 On
September 27, 2002, Leary School, Prince George's County, hosted a visiting artist
from Egypt. Ms. Amany Saad, an art teacher from Cairo, was on tour from Egypt as
a guest of the United States State Department's International Visitors' project.
Ms. Saad was in the United States for three weeks, traveling to Santa Fe, New Mexico,
Pennsylvania and New York City where she donated some of her pieces from art work
she has done since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, before culminating
her trip in the Washington, D.C. area.
Leary School, Prince George's County, was the only school she visited in the metropolitan
area. The students were prepared for her visit and asked her many good questions
through her interpreter about her work and her life in Egypt. One of her goals for
this trip was to better understand how organizations in the United States use artwork
to bring peaceful change to the world. She said to the students, ".art is love, art
is peace.."
 Ms.
Saad reacted to the horrors of September 11th visually, through artistic media in
her work as an artist. She presented a painting depicting her feelings of sorrow
to the United States Embassy in Egypt shortly after the terrorist attacks.
She left a record of her pictorial expression at each place along her tour of the
United States. Ms. Saad was particularly interested in visiting with the students,
in spite of her limited command of the English language. She traveled with an interpreter,
Ms. Ghada Altieh, who works with the State Department and who was very helpful to
Ms. Saad in communicating.
Ms. Saad hoped to accomplish several goals during her visit. They included getting
a better understanding of American culture, gaining exposure to our diverse religious
and ethnic community and establishing a dialogue with American artists about the
use of art as a tool for cross-cultural understanding. Ms. Saad also hoped to express
her own personal sadness after the events of September 11th and share those feelings
with our country.
 Ms.
Saad spent several hours with us, sharing stories, her art portfolio and even creating
art. Ms. Saad also visited with students in the classroom, showing them several pieces
of her art work. She also worked with several students in the Art Studio and finished
a piece of art that included parts of our yearbook of 2001-2002 which she donated
to our school. Upon leaving the school on the 27th, Ms. Saad headed to the Pentagon
where she intended to present another piece of art that depicted the events of September
11th. She was scheduled to return to Egypt the following day.
Upon her return home, Ms. Saad plans to begin painting for an exhibit in Egypt that
will focus on her experiences in the United States over the three-week period of
her visit. This was a wonderful experience for our students! Thank you, Ms. Saad,
for sharing your life with us!
Deni Brancheau, M.A.
Program Director
Leary School, Prince George's County
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