Danya Karram is passionate about creating a dialogue between people of different cultures and religions.

        “Whether art is the vehicle we use, whether it's religion, whether it's a discussion group based on the politics of the Middle East — it's all about relationships with other people and finding commonality,” says Mrs. Karram, who lives in Indian Hill. “It's being able to appreciate the gifts that other people have, even though they have different backgrounds.”

        Mrs. Karram combines her knowledge of art and her leadership skills to promote understanding. As a board member of the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati, she has worked to educate the public on the art, architecture and religion of the Islamic world. And as a member of an interfaith, grass-roots group called Open House, she is helping to build bridges through dialogue. For these and many other good works, Mrs. Karram has been selected as an Enquirer Woman of the Year.

        “Danya has provided a vital link to the Islamic community, and has served with sensitivity and passion,” says Abby Schwartz, curator of education at the Taft Museum of Art. Ms. Schwartz was one of 200 people in the audience when Mrs. Karram gave an enlightening lecture in 1999: “Mosques and Minarets: A Place and Time for Prayer.”

        “Art is a universal language, and Islamic art is so different,” Mrs. Karram explains over lunch downtown. “The biggest thing that most people don't realize, there is no sacred art in Islam like there is in Christianity. . . . Having this prohibition of putting God in human form didn't stop the artists. They just developed their talent in other areas: the weaving of rugs, mosaics, metalwork and calligraphy.”

        She enjoys leading tours for students of the Islamic Center's mosque.

        “We often talk about the church or synagogue (they) go to, and what are the similarities and the differences,” she says. “So when the kids see the mosque without chairs or pews, the reason is because much of the prayer is on the floor.”

        Mrs. Karram grew up in Toledo, a second-generation American in a Lebanese Muslim community. Art was always her hobby, but thinking she “was not good enough” to pursue it as a career, she studied accounting in college. She has recently gone back to school, and is a week away from graduating as a Web designer. Using her technical knowledge, she has been a volunteer in parent computer classes at Cincinnati Country Day School, where her children attend.

        She has also kept her passion for art. A docent at Cincinnati Art Museum since 1986, “she has touched the lives of more than 4,000 children and adults over the past 14 years, sharing her love and enthusiasm for art and history,” says Felicia Ferguson Mangat in her nominating letter.

        “To me, the arts are a window into history,” Mrs. Karram says.

        The arts are also a window into understanding other cultures. Rita Edlin, moved at Mrs. Karram's lecture for the series, “Artistic Expressions of Faith in Judaism, Christianity and Islam,” invited her to join Open House. The local group of Muslims, Christians and Jews models its discussions after the Open House project in Ramle, Israel, which began with a Jewish and Palestinian family. Mrs. Karram's husband, Dr. Michael Karram, is of Palestinian descent.

        “Despite the sensitivity exhibited by all in our discussions on the political situation in Israel, it has taken genuine courage and a willingness to continue to reach out to her Jewish co-participants,” writes Thomas Ferrell, a participant.

        Mrs. Karram believes you have to start small.

        “In order to have global peace, we have to have peace between our neighbors, between families, friends and colleagues at work. It's building relationships on a very personal level, and then spreading out,” she says.

        “When people will stand up for how they believe, what they believe in and righting wrongs, that's when we'll have change in the world. It doesn't start with Middle East policy; it doesn't start with heads of state in Washington.”

The Cincinnati Enquirer's Women of the Year
Danya Karram
Francie Schott Hiltz
J.J. Johnson-JioDucci
Jane Lampke Bracken
Mary Frances Williams Clauder
Mauri J. Willis
Merri Gaither Smith
Sherrie Lou Noel
Sisters Mary Ann Fuerst and Alice Marie Soete
The Rev. Dr. Cinda Gorman
Past Enquirer Women of the Year