AL-FAKIHA, Lebanon — “Art is not a priority for many in the northern Bekaa Valley. But we see art as the solution, especially in a region where we have a high level of crime and violence,” Mehdi Yehya, founder of Peace of Art (PoA), told Al-Monitor. “People, especially teenagers, see arms — they see conflict. The ideal person for them is someone holding a gun, a killer. But we are trying to give another example, someone holding a guitar.”

PoA, founded in 2016, is both a humanitarian organization and a fine arts academy. It aims to bring together people from different religions, sects, nationalities and backgrounds in the tumultous Baalbek district in the northern Bekaa Valley.

PoA established the first, and only, art school in the region, in the small northern Bekaa Valley town of al-Fakiha, with volunteers teaching over 200 students a month. The courses include photography, film-making, painting and dance, as well as musical instruments such as the oud, a Middle Eastern and North African stringed instrument, guitar and piano.

“We started with three small rooms and we faced many challenges,” Yehya said. “Because in this region we don’t have art teachers or music teachers, it was one of the first places where people gathered from different [backgrounds] and nationalities.”