Visionary Peace Monuments (Folk Art)

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1930's - Peace Monument, Wegner Grotto, State Highway 71, west of Cataract, Wisconsin (USA). By Paul & Miltilda Wegner. "Paul Wegner died in 1937. His funeral was held in The Glass Church. Matilda carried on for five more years -- she even wrapped the Wegner burial plot in layers of crockery -- until she died in 1942. In the mid-1980's the Wegner Grotto was purchased & spruced up by the Kohler Foundation, which then gave it to the county as a park. Today the Wegner Grotto is more bucolic than it ever was while the Wegners were alive. It stands in a quiet, tree-shaded patch of rural countryside, small but tidy, its countless thousands of glass shards sparkling in the sunlight. The fanciful concrete entry arch with the word 'HOME' now leads to an empty patch of grass."

After 1947 - Peace Sculpture, Gilgal Sculpture Garden, 749 East 500 South, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). "Designed and created by LDS businessman Thomas Battersby Child, Jr. [1888-1963] in the mid-twentieth century, the Gilgal Sculpture Garden contains 12 original sculptures and over 70 stones engraved with scriptures, poems & literary texts." "Farther down, you'll notice an odd iron structure. It is meant to represent swords & spears that have been beaten into ploughshares."

After 1963 - El Monumento a la Paz / Peace Monument, Fundación Planeta Libre, Calle Cabriales con Luis Roche, Colinas de Bello Monte, Caracas (Venezuela). Built by Dr. Farid Mattar [born 1928]. "A temple of understanding that symbolizes the education for freedom & peace. It is an environmentally-friendly monument, made by recycling the filth of Caracas, each rock placed, in Dr. Mattar’s words, 'in the name of every Venezuelan child that will be born.' Dr. Mattar’s development of his model of a Culture of Peace corresponded to the on-going construction at the site. The model suggests that we are the forces behind continuing transformations & that we are united both in heaven & on earth. In these moments, we are entering the monument’s highest floor. One may observe that there are no ceilings or walls, & the arcs point toward the sky, indicating the need of a contemporary man to find sense in life & to be transcendental."

After 1973 - Omega Peace Institute (OPI), Arkansas Avenue, North Mesa, Los Alamos New Mexico (USA). Next door to Black Hole (qv). Former Grace Lutheran Church purchased in 1973 by Ed Grothus [1923-2009]. First called 'The Omega Peace Institute' & later named 'The First Church of High Technology.' "Adorned with a large peace sign mounted on the [A-frame] building, two symbolically broken torpedos out front & a sign that reads: "OMEGA PEACE INSTITUTE, FIRST CHURCH OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY, BLACK HOLE SYNOD, Critical Mass Every Sunday with Bomb Unworship Service.' Actually, no services are held, & the church building itself is stuffed with more junk [from the Black Hole]."

1978 - Black Hole, Arkansas Avenue, North Mesa, Los Alamos, New Mexico (USA). Next door to Omega Peace Institute (qv). "In 1976, Ed Grothus [1923-2009] acquired the adjacent Piggly Wiggly grocery store (“Mesa Market”). When the grocery operation ceased [in 1978], Grothus' Los Alamos Sales Company began moving 'military surplus' into the building. In recent years, the operation became known as 'The Black Hole,' because “everything went in, and not even light could get out.” Click here to see a YouTube video of Ed Grothus giving a tour of the world famous Black Hole of Los Alamos."

About 1980 - Mappamondo della Pace / Globe of Peace, Apecchio, Montefeltro province of Pesaro (Italy). 10-meters (35-feet) in diameter. Weights 30 tons. Constructed by folk artist Orfeo Bartolucci. World's largest globe until Eartha (qv) was constructed in 1998 according to Guinness Book of Records. Chick here for "Il Mappamondo piů grande del mondo." /// N.B.: Can't find a better image. Somebody, please put one on-line!

G A R D E N

1981 - Temple of Tolerance, 203 South Wood Street, Wapakoneta, Ohio (USA). "I've seen many amazing visionary art sites, but none quite like the one James R. (Jim) Bowsher has created. His home is an incredible museum -- a Grand Central Terminal for the Underground Railroad, an invisible library of unwritten books on Freemasons, Harry Houdini & and Neil Armstrong. Over several backyards are massive glacial boulders forming the central monument dedicated to tolerance, a stage for summer music performances, a Vietnam War memorial & a Tree of Life. Throughout the grounds you'll also find the archeology of good and evil -- Boundary markers from a Shawnee Indian reservation, slab steps from a Klan meetinghouse, stone dragons from Ireland, fragments from the first baseball park in Cincinnati, even a marble countertop from a bank that John Dillinger robbed. Perhaps more than anything, the Temple stands to remind us, as well as future generations, to have compassion for others as we continue to explore our dreams, follow our spirit, and search for answers in the hope of scaling new heights." [Cathy J. Schreima, Wapakoneta Evening Ledger, April 7, 2001.] /// Bowsher's temple is further described & illustrated on NarrowLarry's World of the Outstanding & RareVisions Road Trip.com. For YouTube videos of the temple, click here for 11 minutes on a sunny day, and click here for 5 minutes in the snow. Also click to see Bowsher explaining why he believes in innate goodness and telling the story of rivets.

After 1985 - Sword Into Plowshare, Swetsville Zoo, 4801 East Harmony Road, Timnath, Fort Collins, Colorado (USA). Depicts a sword morphing into a plow & a Christian cross. Invokes Isaiah 2:4. All "animals" in this "zoo" were built by Bill Swets from car parts, farm machinery & scrap metal. Click here for other swords & plowshares monuments.

1986 - Heidelburg Project, Heidelburg Street, Detroit, Michigan (USA). "Tyree Guyton created the Heidelburg Project as an urban renewal project, transforming a rundown section of Detroit from a place where people were afraid to walk to an art exhibition that people wanted to visit." Image shows the "Dotty-Wotty" house, one of many trasformed by the proejct. Peace appears not to be an explicit theme, but the project's intent is peace. Notice Martin Luther King, Jr., on this house.

After 1988 - "A Monument: The Birmingham Jail," African Village in America, 912 Nassau Street, Woodland Park neighborhood, Birmingham, Alabama (USA). By folk artist Joe Minter. "The jail cell that helped change the United States. From this cell Martin Luther King wrote his Birmingham letter." /// African Village in America is "is an homage to the social & spiritual struggle of African Americans in America." Note that sign reads "African Village in America: Tribuation, Patience, Experience, Hope."

1991 - "Chain Reaction," Santa Monica Civic Center, Santa Monica, California (USA). 26-foot mushroom cloud made from links of a massive chain. Text of plaque: "This is a statement of peace. May it never become an epitaph. Paul Conrad 1991." Designed by Paul Conrad [1924-2010], chief editorial cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times 1964-1993 (& syndicated to 100's of newspapers worldwide). See video. "Gifted to the City of Santa Monica through a $250,000 anonymous donation..." Said to be structurally weak in 2011. "Save O ur Sculpture" (SOS) campaign organized by Jerry Peace Activist Rubin.

Date? - Unidentified monument, on highway just south of Jenin (Occupied West Bank). Includes at least five large flying birds, a door, a burning house, a huge key & keyhole (probable symbols of Nakba & Palestinian resistance). Please email geovisual@comcast.net if you have any information about this monument. Photo taken by EWL from a moving bus on June 20, 2011.

2001-2002 School Year - "Westwood's Peace Monument", Westwood Elementary School, near Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (Canada). Third grade students of class 3D make a classroom monument using virtually every symbol of peace: Dove, crane, CND peace symbol, Banner of Peace, V-sign, torch, biracial handshake. They also search the World Wide Web and post other peace monuments. Click here to see the results.

June 2005 - "Peace...Peace...Peace," New York City, New York (USA). Oil on canvas, 68" x 54." By Miguel Tio. "For this painting which I started last year, I worked with 14 different models who posed for the all the figures that are portrayed in it. I wanted to use a view of a sunset as a background for this work, & for quite a few times I rode my bike to the Hudson River in the late afternoon waiting for that sunset to appear… but it never seemed to show up. Last summer while I was visiting my sister in Illinois, it suddenly appeared right in front of me when we were driving back from Madison to Chicago. I urged my sister who was driving the car to make a stop on the side of the road. I took some photographs, & for the rest of the trip she kept on stopping trying to find good spots so I could continue taking pictures…that went on until the sun disappeared on the horizon. This painting is about the power of thought; all people joined together in one single brain wave decreeing inside their heart and soul…Peace…Peace…Peace. I believe in the existence of a myriad of beings whose souls are like light houses; their thoughts carrying out the light that travels the Earth becoming ever stronger with the meeting of each new light that converges in the same vibration. This power is available to all of us to use in making this world a better place. I hope you can sense that power too when you look at this painting. Peace…Peace…Peace."

2005 - Monumento a la Paz, Sayalonga, Málaga, Andalucia (Spain). A statement against the Spanish Civil War by artist Plací de Gaona. "This monument is on the road to the pretty village of Sayalonga. Its structure & roses that surround it are worth visiting."

2011 - World Peace Game, Agnor-Hurt Elementary School, Charlottesville, Virginia (USA). "Voted TED Talks' 'most influential speaker' in 2011 (if you haven’t seen his speech, you’ll probably want to click here). A documentary about him & his project has been aired in every school in Norway, on national television in Israel, in South Korea, all over the Middle East – even in Estonia. Both the Secretary of Defense & the United Nations have brought him in to talk. And Bill Gates just opened for him at a conference – opened for him. He’s everywhere. John Hunter. Creator of the World Peace Game. And he’s still on bus duty at the local elementary school where he teaches?" /// Click here for a sample of the documentary film "World Peace & Other Fourth Grade Achievements" by Chris Farina (2010).

Date? - "World of Peace," Livingston Intermediate School, 819 West Church Street, Livingston, Texas (USA). "Sponsored by the Livingston Intermediate P.T.O. Many students at Livingston Intermediate worked together to create our World of Peace & Harmony. 1st group came up with the theme and idea. 2nd group made changes to the design and began making faces. 3rd group made faces and sewed them on the background. The students enjoyed using the sewing machine best of all!"

P A L A C E

January 28, 2012 - Shanthi Mahal / Global Peace Palace, Thumboli, near Alappuzha, Kerala State (India). "Chief minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate Global Peace Palace, a monument for war heroes and victims of terror attacks built by AKB Kumar, an ex-service man, at Thumboli on January 27. The construction of the monument, a replica of Agra's Taj Mahal, started on January 28, 2008. 'I have spent Rs1.25 crore for constructing this monument dedicated to India's war heroes who sacrificed their lives for the nation,' said 61-year-old Kumar at a press conference here on Friday. Kumar was a chief petty officer in the Indian Navy. He had joined the Navy at the age of 15. During his 18 years of service, he participated in the Indo-Pak war in 1971. 'During that war, I lost some of my friends. It was then that I decided to set up a monument for war heroes. But then I did not have enough money for the purpose. Later, I joined as fire and safety engineer at Kochi Refineries and spent all my savings for constructing this monument. I even had to take a bank loan for completing the structure,' he said. Kumar retired from Kochi Refineries last April. The Global Peace Palace has four minarets representing the Army, Navy, Air Force and other forces. The central portion of the structure is dedicated to the victims of terror attacks. Kumar said people could visit the monument free of cost, and that he had sought government help for its protection." /// Click here for more informtion.

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