Sacred Sidewalks

Sunday morning confession (post walk of shame) just got a whole lot easier. Instead of spending an hour talking to your favorite Father, now you can find Jesus while hustling down Massachusetts Avenue in last night’s toga.

The potential absolver of sins is street-artist Hani Shihada, who created a sidewalk mural depicting Jesus and the Virgin Mary in front of the Harvard Book Store.

Megan E. Carey ’08, in a slightly less shameful situation than a Sunday morning homecoming, stopped to watch him work.

“The image itself is powerful, and very well done,” said Carey.

Growing up, the Palestinian Shihada found art an inviting distraction from the cruel realities of the Middle East.

“By the time I was 11, I had seen three wars,” said Shihada. But while traveling in Italy, he says, he saw a girl drawing on the sidewalk and “immediately knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

Shihada currently lives in New York City and has been working full time as an artist for 22 years. After learning to leave his contact information on the sidewalk as a signature of sorts, he began to get calls about projects.

His list of past-clients includes U2, Armani, Disney, MTV and Adidas. He even recently appeared (as himself) in the movie “No Reservations.”

“I was doing a mural of Cinderella in front of a house for a little girl’s birthday party when the director walked by and asked if I wanted to be in a movie,” said Shihada.

So all you VES concentrators out there, take a hint from Shihada: the sidewalk might prove to be more than a place to pan-handle. Paying your respects to the Jesus of Mass Ave. can’t hurt your luck either.