Lebanese crisis inspires artist

After watching televised broadcasts of thousands of people as they flee Lebanon or die in the country as a result of the Mideast conflict, Huntington Beach artist Kinda Hibrawi decided she had to find a way to help.

“It’s just heartbreaking — so tough to see it,” Hibrawi said. “I just had to do something.”

Hibrawi, 28, has put together an acrylic painting to raise money to help victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Lebanon. All proceeds from sales of her artwork titled “Lebanon: Rise from Under the Rubble Like the Almond Flowers in April” will be donated to UNICEF.

So far, Hibrawi has raised about $3,000, but her goal is to reach $100,000, she said. The money will help put together urgent supplies for children affected by the conflict.

Hibrawi, who is of Syrian descent, has several family members and friends in Lebanon. She spent her freshman year at the Lebanese American University in Beirut before transferring to Saddleback College and later to Cal State Fullerton.

Hibrawi and partner Judy Fleenor created an Andy Warhol-inspired artwork on pets, many of which were abandoned and forgotten after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast last year. The artwork was to donate proceeds from sales to the Red Cross.

PetSmart Charities noticed their Katrina print and asked for permission to use them on T-shirts and mouse pads.

The Lebanon artwork, made with acrylic paint, was inspired by the song “Ya Beirut Sitt Al Dunia” or “Beirut, Lady of the World,” Hibrawi said.

The lyrics talk about the rebirth of Lebanon after being devastated by the country’s second civil war in the early 1980s and was sung by Majdah Al-Roumi.

Growing up in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon and the United States, Hibrawi said she wanted to bring out the richness of her cultural heritage alongside her Western influence.

“We don’t want to pick sides or get political, we just want to help the people who were displaced,” Fleenor said.

The artwork is being well-received.

“I wanted to support an upcoming artist along with supporting a good cause,” said Theresa Cavanaugh, a 35-year Huntington Beach resident who bought a print of Hibrawi’s artwork. “It was the best of both worlds. The picture really called to me because it’s so inspiring and unique.”

Hibrawi’s gesture of donating 100% of the proceeds from the sale of her art to aid the victims of the Israeli-Lebanese conflict “left me moved and inspired to participate,” said Ibrahim AlHusseini of Beverly Hills.

For more information or to buy a print, visit mypopart.com. Mypopart.com is a business venture owned by Fleenor and Hibrawi. They create works of art for donation through its charity division, “Canvas for A Cause.”