New York graffiti artist DAZE just got back from Haiti where he was inaugurating a mural project for The Academy of Peace and Justice in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Along another admired and well-revered New York graffiti artist KET, DAZE worked with local students to create some new pieces for a huge new project spearheaded by pop artist and APJ advisory board member, Peter Tunney, who hopes to launch it as the “Haiti Walls” project.

Daze (photo © Daze)

“The design that I came up with doesn’t deal with peace in a political or military sense, but is more about inner peace,” DAZE tells us. “I wanted to create something that would be offering a kind of inner peace in order to achieve further goals.”

Daze (photo © Daze)

In his original design (above) for the huge piece DAZE included an area for students to add their own voice, enabling this school of nearly 3,000 students on 100% scholarship to take ownership of the artwork as well. Not only did students paint, they also played music for the team just in time for the beginning of the school year.

Taking inspiration from the letter forms, patterns, and color palette used in signage and everyday street life, DAZE incorporated a gently held and supported “PAIX” (peace) to the streets as well.

Daze. Selfie. (photo © Daze)

“During my time in Haiti I did see many examples of extreme poverty that were hard to bear,’ DAZE says of his daily explorations while there. “A lot of the students I worked with came from an area called ‘Cite de Soliel” which is the largest slum in Haiti. I also saw many examples of the 2010 earthquake that remained. Having said that, I saw many examples of a resilience, resourcefulness, and creativity that could only be found there. The Hatian people were kind, generous and open to my presence there. The cultural creativity there is incredible. Haiti is a really beautiful country that I encourage people to experience firsthand.”

A lot of horse power in the Puissance Devine bus! Daze. Haiti bus. (photo © Daze)

Daze. Market (photo © Daze)

KET (photo © Daze)

Daze . KET (photo © Daze)

Daze (photo © Daze)

Daze. Students (photo © Daze)

Daze. Students group shot. (photo © Daze)

Landscape (photo © Daze)

Daze. CLICK on photo to enlarge. (photo © Daze)