In the summer of 2011, Lily Yeh was invited to Balata Refugee Camp to create a community-based art project. She worked with volunteer artists, leaders of the Balata Womens Center, students of the Balata Girls’ School, and other local participants to create a mural called “The Palestinian Tree of Life.”

Al Aqaba is a small West Bank village located in the Jordan Valley. In 2015, Lily Yeh designed the mural entitled, Once Upon A Time, There Was The Land of Palestine, honoring the people’s deep emotion of trauma and loss. Rob Shetterly painted the figures of two children, a boy and a girl, at the suggestion of Haj Sami Sadiq, the Mayor of Al Aqaba, as the symbol of their future.

In 2014, Barefoot Artists was invited to design a mural in Nablus, for a square in the heart of the Old City. Responding to the sentiment of the residents, team member Rob Shetterly (Americans Who Tell the Truth) created the fiery image of the “Resistance Fighter.” Embodying determination and strength, the image was immediately embraced by the community as a symbol of the spirit of its people.