'LOVE Is The Answer' Mural Proposed In Newtown Township

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — A community-based mural project is hoping to spread “the L.O.V.E.” to Newtown Township.

At the January meeting of the board of supervisors, L.O.V.E. Is The Answer Ambassador Barbara Simmons proposed bringing the county’s latest community-based mural project to Newtown Township, Middletown Township and Newtown Borough.

Through the creation of community-created and inspired murals, the project seeks to bring groups together in an effort to break down barriers, to be inclusive rather than exclusive, to learn about each other and to embrace each other.

Similar mural projects have taken place in nearby Morrisville, Falls, Bristol Township and Bensalem. One is also planned in Doylestown.

“What we would like to do in Newtown. is use the highly-visible pedestrian bridge that connects George School and Newtown Borough above the Newtown Bypass (between Buck Road and South State Street),” Simons told the board of supervisors. “This would be a great place to have a unique mural that would use the chain link fence to display the artwork,” she said.

For it to happen, Simons said they will need to secure the approval of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The murals, she said, would be created offsite by students from George School, Council Rock and the Bucks County Community College working side-by-side with residents and law enforcement in Newtown Township, Newtown Borough and Middletown Township.

“I’m excited about the project. I’ve been working with the Department of Justice on this,” said asimon, adding, “It’s going to take time to move forward. We have to put the application in. We have to get the design team together. I have volunteers willing to do that.”

When Simons asked the township to take the lead on the project by submitting the application, Elen Snyder, who chairs the board of supervisors, said the township would get back to her with a decision. “It’s a beautiful idea,” added Snyder.

Simons called it a community-building project. “That’s what I love about it. “

AJ Ali founded L.O.V.E. Is The Answer in 2012 after “being stopped one too many times by police because of the color of my skin.”

“LOVE isn’t just a warm and fuzzy feeling. It’s four steps,” said Ali, sharing the wider meaning behind the LOVE acronym. “Learn about people. Open your heart to their needs, Volunteer yourself to be part of the solution in their life. And Empower others to do the same.”