New Outdoor Mural at Clarkston Library Celebrates the Richness of Diversity

The mur­al is a gift to the pub­lic from Alif Insti­tute and con­tem­po­rary artist eL Seed.

DECATUR, Ga. — (April 26, 2024) — A new mur­al has been installed at the Clark­ston branch of DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library. The mur­al was spon­sored by

Alif Insti­tute, and designed and paint­ed by con­tem­po­rary artist eL Seed. It was giv­en to DeKalb Coun­ty as a piece of pub­lic art to be enjoyed by all.

“Pub­lic art uni­fies peo­ple and fos­ters a sense of civic pride, which is why I cham­pi­oned the mur­al from the moment the idea was brought by Alif Insti­tute,” said DeKalb Coun­ty Com­mis­sion­er Ted Ter­ry. ​“The City of Clark­ston, already ​‘the most diverse square mile in Amer­i­ca,’ has now become a cul­tur­al tourism des­ti­na­tion for peo­ple in DeKalb and beyond.”

“We are so grate­ful that Alif Insti­tute and eL Seed chose the library as a fit­ting loca­tion for this vibrant and mean­ing­ful mur­al,” said Ali­son Weissinger, direc­tor, DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library. ​“This gift will help bring more atten­tion to the library, and we hope that every­one comes out to see the art and then heads inside to dis­cov­er a new book or oth­er resources to enjoy.”

Inspired by the library and the diver­si­ty of the com­mu­ni­ty, eL Seed chose the quote ​“Genius every­where is one.” The quote is from Ameen Rihani’s, ​“The Book of Khalid,” con­sid­ered to be the first nov­el by an Arab Amer­i­can writer in Eng­lish. The col­or­ful mur­al stretch­es from the ground to the roof and flows across three adja­cent walls. It show­cas­es the artist’s sig­na­ture ​“cal­ligraf­fi­ti” style, Ara­bic cal­lig­ra­phy merged with graf­fi­ti, with quotes or poems infused in the artwork.

“This project reflects Alif’s vision of one world unit­ed through the pow­er of arts and cul­ture,” said Mouna Abdel­hamid, exec­u­tive direc­tor of Alif Insti­tute. ​“Libraries are a place where we are free to explore and exchange ideas.”

Coin­cid­ing with Nation­al Arab Amer­i­can Her­itage Month, the mur­al was ded­i­cat­ed at a rib­bon-cut­ting cer­e­mo­ny on April 20 with Alif Insti­tute Exec­u­tive Direc­tor Mouna Abdel­hamid; Clark­ston May­or Bev­er­ly H. Burks; mur­al artist eL Seed; and DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library Direc­tor Ali­son Weissinger.

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