Pyramids for Peace Collection

This art exhibit consists of 12 wood-carved paintings that depict life in communities in Egypt that are being transformed thanks to the support of our American partners and friends.

These poignant portrayals of the life of the poor in villages and cities include depictions of health programs, women's education, inter-religious understanding, and other important programs that we need your help to continue.

The paintings are each four feet square, carved Philippine mahogany wood boards, with frame corners cut to the exact angles of the great Pyramid at Giza to represent the link of Egypt. Paintings include easels for display and wheeled storage cases for easy handling and moving. This collection is available for exhibit throughout the year. Please contact us at 703-875-9370 or info@handsalongthenile.org for information on sponsoring an art show in your community.

Notecards featuring reproductions of the art from this collection are available in sets of 6. To order, please contact our office. To view the collection and all notecard designs please click here.

The Inspiration

In 1996, artists Maritza Morgan and Robert Jay Ludwig traveled to Egypt from their home at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York. While there, they were moved by the challenges of poverty and by the spirit and initiative of the Egyptian people.

They also witnessed the transformational work of HANDS and its Egyptian partners, bringing empowerment, development, hope and understanding to communities made up of both Christians and Muslims in great need. Inspired by their experiences, the artists returned home and worked for one full year without commission or remuneration to issue an artistic challenge to their communities in the US. The result of their labor, the Pyramids for Peace collection, is a dramatic call to the American people to join in solutions to poverty and discord that plague the land of the Pharaohs.

About the Artists

For over twenty-five years, Martiza Morgan and Robert Jay Ludwig served as artists-in-residence at a number of institutions, including Chautauqua Institution and the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Life-long learners, Morgan and Ludwig traveled the world on religious and cultural study tours, always returning to challenge their audience to compassion and action through their art.

Pyramids for Peace was their final collection completed together, before Ms. Morgan’s death in 1997. Mr. Ludwig continues to reside in New York as an active member of the Chautauqua Institution community.

Other works by the artists hang in private collections, churches and galleries across the country, including an epic mural displayed at Vanguard Investments Group in Valley Forge , Pennsylvania . The artists completed two other Challenge Collections, which hang at the Presbyterian Church USA headquarters in Louisville, KY and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

For more information about the works of the artists or to order a video, please contact our office.