70 Peace Monuments Related to Children,
Motherhood, Sadako Sasaki & Peace CranesClick here for Wikipedia article on Sadako Sasaki [1943-1955].
Click here for Wikipedia article entitled "Thousand origami cranes."
Click here for website of the World Peace Project for Children (sadako.org).Right click image to enlarge.
Date? - Poster (France). l'Emprunt de la Paix / the Peace Bond. Filled with symbols of peace and prosperity, including a breast feeding mother and many belching smokestacks. 1920 - Poster (France). Emprunt de la Paix, PAX / Peace Bond, PAX. Another mother and infant, this time with a farmer.
July 30, 1929 - Statue of Romulus & Remus, City Hall, Rome, Georgia (USA). "On a base of white marble from Tate, Georgia, with a brass plaque inscribed: 'This statue of the Capitoline Wolf, as a forecast of prosperity and glory, has been sent from Ancient Rome to New Rome during the consulship of Benito Mussolini in the year 1929." In 1940, anti-Italian sentiment due to World War II became so strong that the Rome city commission moved the statue into storage to prevent vandalism and replaced it with an American flag. In 1952, the statue was restored to its former location in front of City Hall.'" Info courtesy of George & Renae Stone.
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E1934 - Walk of Fame, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida (USA). "Probably the most problematic stone college president Hamilton Holt [1872-1951] ever obtained [for the Walk of Fame] was that of the Dionne Quintuplets [born May 28, 1934]. The President’s initial request for a stone was rejected because the guardians of the quints had been swamped with similar requests from mothers who believed such stones could enhance fertility. Prexy replied that he really didn’t think Rollins fell in the same category as 'superstitious mothers,' and the guardians responded that Rollins was welcome to a stone—anytime someone wanted to come to Canada and get it. Hamilton Holt and Rollins got the stone."
July 1, 1947 - "Peace on Earth" Statue, American Garden, International Peace Gardens, Jordan Park, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). "This statue in the Peace Garden is symbolic of the hope that we can leave a more peaceful future to our children." Garden (qv) was initiated in 1940 by by Mrs. O. A. Wiesley of the Salt Lake Council of Women and developed by local ethnic & national groups 1948-1989. Front inscription says, "Our hope for the children." Side inscriptons say, "Peace on Earth" & "The dawn of a new era."
August 9-20, 1947 - Jamboree Mondial de la Paix / World Jamboree of Peace (France). "Premier grand rassemblement d'après guerre des scouts du monde. Ce jamboree sera appelé 'Jamboree de la paix' et sera placé sous l'égide, le patronage du fondateur et chef éternel du Scoutisme Lord Robert Baden Powell, décédé à Niéry au Kenya en 1941... Seul rassemblement Scout mondial à s'être déroulé en France, à Moisson. Ce fut le VI Jamboree Mondial, dix ans après celui organisé en Hollande." Attended by 24,152 scouts.
May 10, 1949 - Monumento a la Madre / Monument to the Mother, Parque Sullivan, Mexico City (Mexico). "A campaign by the Excelsior newspaper in the 1920's led to the creation of [the] widely celebrated Mexican holiday Dia de las madres / Mothers’ Day (May 10). The newspaper raised the money for the monumento. This is a very Mexican mamí -- she is wearing a rebozo, and her features are decidedly indigenous.
May 5, 1958 - Children's Peace Monument, Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima (Japan). The monument is topped by a statue of Sadako Sasaki. Dedicated on Children's Day. Encircled by cases in which to hang origami peace cranes. #16 of 56 "cenotaphs & monuments" on the Virtual E-Tour.. Date? - Statue of Sadako Sasaki, Hiroshima (Japan). Where is this statue? Not shown on Virtual E-Tour.
May 3, 1960 - Anne Frank House Museum, Amsterdam (Netherlands). Hiding place of Anne Frank [1929-1945] and her family during World War II. Museum expanded in 1999. Date? - Statue of Anne Frank, near the museum, Amsterdam (Netherlands).
September 5, 1960 - Statue of "Mother & Child in the Storm", in front of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima (Japan). Presented by "Japan Council Against Atomic & Hydrogen Bombs" during "Fifth World Conference." Erected with help of donations collected by "Hiroshima Municipal Federation of Women's Associations." The statue depicts a mother holding an infant tightly in one arm and protecting another with the determination to survive whatever suffering may confront her.#31 of 56 "cenotaphs & monuments" on the Virtual E-Tour. Date? - Unidentified monument, Nagasaki (Japan). Depicts two children seated on a bench.
June 27, 1964 - Literary Monument Dedicated to Miekichi Suzuki, bank of Motoyasu River near the Genbaku Dome, Hiroshima (Japan). By Katsuzo Entsuba [1905-2003], a sculptor and judge for the Nitten Exhibition (the famous art exhibition in Japan). Miekichi Suzuki [1882-1936] was a pioneer writer who raised the quality of Japanese juvenile stories, songs and folktales to the level of "literature." The monument has two parts (each with a dove of peace). One is bust of Miekichi. The other is bronze figures of a boy and a girl sitting on a granite base in the shape of a book. Information from Michiko Yamane. Not on Virtual E-Tour. Note Clock Tower of Peace in background of lower image.
1967 - "Hand of Peace," Walnut Creek, California (USA). "A monument to peace by a famous artist, who reportedly cut off his trigger finger and sent it to President Woodrow Wilson to protest World War I, may soon adorn a Walnut Creek park. The nearly 5-ton sculpture is made of copper, mosaic & stained glass. The 30-foot-tall open-hand figure has stained glass around the fingers & a mural in the middle of the palm featuring a group of children. Above them, an inscription reads, "The children of the world shall inherit the earth." The sculpture sat relatively unnoticed in an office park in Walnut Creek on Quail Court from 1967 to 2009, when it was taken down for restoration. Four years after Italian-born artist Beniamino Bufano [1890-1970] installed his massive sculpture in Walnut Creek, he died. But now [2012] the family that owns the sculpture has offered to let the city display it prominently for at least the next 25 years. The chosen spot is in downtown's Civic Park."
May 9, 1971 - Pomnik Martyrologii Dzieci / Monument of Children's Martyrdom, Park Szarych Szeregow / Gray Ranks, Marysinska, Lodz (Poland). Also called Broken Heart Monument. Dedicated on the 26th anniversary of Poland's victory over Germany. Commemorates the martyrdom of thousands of child prisoners who died here in a German concentration camp (Ghetto Litzmannstadt) during WW-II. Designed by Jadwiga Janus. Inscriptions: "Your life was taken, today we give You only memory" and "May it pass on to future generations our common cry: no more war, no more camps."
1974 - Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial, Lincoln Park, East Capitol & 12th Streets, Washington, DC (USA). Sculpted by Robert Berks (who also did DC statues of JFK and Einstein). Mary McLeod Bethune [1875-1955] was an American educator and civil rights leader best known for starting a school for black students in Daytona Beach, Florida, that eventually became Bethune-Cookman University and for being an advisor to FDR. Also see Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site (National Park Service).
January 1, 1979 - International Year of the Child (IYC). UNESCO proclamation signed January 1, 1979, by UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim. Follow-up to the 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child intended to draw attention to problems that affected children throughout the world, including malnutrition & lack of access to education. Many of these efforts resulted in the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
August 26, 1980 - "Joy of Life," Peace Symbols Zone, Nagasaki Peace Park, Nagasaki (Japan). From the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Bronze statue 260 cm in height by Czech sculptor Jan Hána [1927-1994] showing a jubilant mother lifting up her baby in her arms. Made in 1975 but donated in 1980.
June 10, 1982 - Tower of Folded Paper Cranes, Nagasaki Peace Park, Nagasaki (Japan). For the deposit of origami peace cranes. Near the Prayer Monument for Peace (Peace Statue). Are there two of these?
August 3, 1982 - Statue in Memory of Schoolchildren & Teachers, in front of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, 7-8 Hirano-machi, Nagasaki (Japan). "Erected by schoolteachers for the repose of souls & to pledge that such a horrific tragedy may never again be allowed to occur. (The atomic bomb instantly killed some 5,800 students in their homes, as well as some 1,900 secondary students who had been mobilized for factory work, & about 100 schoolteachers. Radiation after-effects killed many more in the months that followed.) Date? - Children's Peace Monument, Shiba Park, Minato-ku, Tokyo (Japan).
October 7, 1983 - "Protection of Our Future," Peace Symbols Zone, Nagasaki Peace Park, Nagasaki (Japan). From the city of Middelburg, The Netherlands (Nagasaki's sister city). "Shows a mother protecting her infact-child from danger, representing that we must protect not only the present generation but also the coming generation as well so that the people of the world can live in peace together."
1984 - Samantha Smith & Katerina Lycheva Children's Peace Garden, Pine Grove Park, Port Huron, Michigan (USA). Click here for Wikipedia article about Samantha Smith [1972-1985]. See 1989 statue in Augusta, Maine (USA). Soviet schoolgirl Katerina Lycheva (age 11) made a five-city "peace trip" tour of the USA as a memorial to Samantha Smith (who died at age 13). Entry #510 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).
August 9, 1984 - Maygrove Peace Park, The Gormley, Kilburn, Camden, London (England). "...a permanent reminder of Camden Council’s commitment to peace. The opening of the park was timed to coincide with the 39th anniversary of the Nagasaki Day by Mayor Barbra Hughes with Bruce Kent (CND). The Mayor of Camden sent a telegram to the Mayor of Nagasaki (Hitoshi Motoshima) who replied 'We hope your Peace Park will be remembered long as a symbol of Peace' which was read out at the opening ceremony while a thousand white balloons were released into the air. (Kilburn Times 17th August 1984). /// The Peace Crane sculptured by Hamish Black is a representation of the Japanese origami peace crane made by thousands of children all over the world. The metal insert on the plinth is the story of the little girl called Sadako & the origin of the crane as the Japanese symbol of peace. [On a boulder is Antony Gormley's statue "Untitled [Listening]."] As you walk along peace walk there are 7 stones inscribed with messages of peace from philosophers none more poignant than from the Mayor of Hiroshima (Takeshi Araki) in 1976: 'We the citizens of Hiroshima ever mindful of the cruel experience clearly foresee the extinction of mankind & an end to civilisation should the world drift into nuclear war. Therefore we have vowed to set aside our griefs & grudges and continuously pleaded before the peoples of the world to abolish weapons & renounce war so that we may never again repeat the tragedy of Hiroshima.'"
June 1, 1985 - "Statue of Peace," Peace Symbols Zone, Nagasaki Peace Park, Nagasaki (Japan). From the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). "Shows a mother holding her infant child as an expression of love and peace."
1987 - Lion & Lamb Peace Arts Center, Bluffton University, Riley Court (Lower Level), Spring Street, Bluffton, Ohio (USA). Several other peace monuments are on the grounds of the center. Right image shows Moon Gate and Peace Wall. Entry #790 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).
July 31, 1987 - ":Hymn to Life," Peace Symbols Zone, Nagasaki Peace Park, Nagasaki (Japan). From the City of Pistoia, Italy. "Depicts a mother holding her baby high in the air with both hands, an expresstion of love and peace." January 11, 1990 - "Behold", Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site, Atlanta, Georgia (USA). 12-foot statue of Kunta Kinte from the novel Roots by Alex Haley. Kinte is performing a Mandinka ceremony for his first-born, Kizzy: "Behold, the only thing greater than yourself." Sculpted by Patrick Morelli. Dedicated by Coretta Scott King. There are other Alex Haley statues in Annapolis, Maryland, & Knoxville, Tennessee, and Haley homes in Henning & Clinton, Tennessee.
June 1988 - "Children of the World" sculpture, Nordkapp / North Cape (Norway). "Seven sculptures designed by children (aged between 8 & 12 years) from seven lands, symbolising friendship, hope, joy & working together. They came here for seven days & dreamed of peace, and created these sculptures dedicated to Peace on Earth. A monument nearby entitled Mother and Child is by the sculptor Eva Rybakken." North Cape is the northernmost point in Europe. "It offers breathtaking views popular with hikers and tourists, a 307-metre high plateau, and a cliffside building that houses a cafe, shops, and a theatre."
1989? - Kambanite / Bells ("Banner of Peace" Monument), Sofia (Bulgaria). Contains bells from all over the world. Dedicated to the well being and happiness of children everywhere. "The international 'Banner of Peace' movement dates back to 1979, when the First Children’s Assembly 'Banner of Peace' was held in Sofia in dedication to the International Year of the Child (IYC). By 1989, four assemblies and four meetings of children from all over the world have been held in Sofia. Altogether, 3,900 kids from 138 countries and 14,000 children from Bulgaria have taken part. The movement’s motto is 'Unity, Creativity, Beauty,' while its basic principle is 'Anyone can be a creator in the Peace Assembly.'" See Nicholas Roerich [1874-1947].
June 24, 1990 - "Silent Witness" Memorial, Gander Lake, Gander, Newfoundland (Canada). Memorizes 256 victims who died December 12, 1985, when Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashed while transporting Multinational Force Observers (MFO's) from the Sinai via Cairo to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky (USA). Depicts an unarmed soldier holding the hands of two civilian children, each with an olive branch of peace. Sculpted by Stephen Sheilds of Hopkinsville, Kentucky (USA).
August 6, 1990 - Sadako Peace Park, Seattle, Washington (USA). Initiative of conscientious objector Floyd W. Schmoe [1895-2001] who rebuilt homes in Hiroshima (Japan). Inscription: "Sadako Sasaki, Peace Child. She gave us the paper crane to symbolize our yearning for peace in the world. A gift to the people of Seattle from Fratelli's Ice Cream. Daryl Smith - Sculptor. 1990." Vandalized in December 2005 but repaired. Upper image shows Schmoe with the statue & peace cranes. Lower image shows hibakusha Ken Nakano of Kirkland, Washington. Entry #1063 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).
August 1949-1952 - "Houses for Hiroshima," at the foot of Ebasara-yama Hill, Eba-machi, Hiroshima (Japan). "Forestry scholar Floyd Schmoe [1895-2001] came up with a plan to build houses for people in Hiroshima. Friends Pacific Yearly Meeting and the Japan Friends Years Meeting [sic] cooperated to raise funds. Money eventually came from Canada, France, China and other countries around the world... Houses were built every year from 1950 to 1952. In addition. a community center was constructed in 1951." Upper image shows Schmoe and Mayor Shinzo Hamai [1905-1968] looking at a stone lantern in the garden. "The lantern inscribed "That There May Be Peace" in both English and Japanese, symbolizing the philosophy of Schmoe."
1991 - "Peace Child of Hiroshima," College of Business, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). Statue of Sadako Sasaki by Seattle sculptor Daryl Smith. Presented by Tadao Sunohara (1944 College of Business) "in gratitude for the oasis of education that he & other west coast Japanese Americans found here during World War II." Information courtesy of Deb Sawyer, Gandhi Alliance for Peace.
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R1993 - Peace Monument, Bona Espero / Good Hope, Alto Paraiso de Goias (Brazil). 155 miles north of Brasilia. Inscribed Ke La Paco Regu La Mondon / May Peace Prevail on Earth (as on all Peace Poles). "Our Peace Monument which I built together with the children here in [Bona Espero] a large school-farm in Brazil in 1993 on invitation of Esperanto Peacemakers in Hiroshima. We are volunteers since 1974 in an Educational Esperanto Institution, where we protect & teach victimized children. We are all volunteers from different countries but without any communication problem, as we all, inclusive the children, use Esperanto. My wife Ursula (german) and me (italian) are also Rotarians, & at this moment I am the secretary of the Esperanto Rotarian Fellowship [Rotaria Amikaro De Esperanto (RADE)], present in all yearly R.I. Conventions. Rotarians from all over the world visit us for periods of volunteering in a wounderful wave of solidarity. We admire your very important challenge to do your part for a peaceful world! Congratulations! At your disposal for any future necessary information, Rotariamente, Giuseppe Grattapaglia" [by email 25Mar12]. Left photo courtesy of Giuseppe Grattapaglia.
1994 - Prairie Peace Park, Seward, Nebraska (USA) -- 7 miles west of Lincoln on Interstate Highway 80 (exit 388). Peace museum primarily for children, created and owned by Don Tilley. Closed in 2005, but some of its outdoor displays remain. Included 16 sculptures of Sadako Sasaki. Entry #582 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).
1995 - Children's Peace Pavilion, in Community of Christ Auditorium building, 100 West Walnut, Independence, Missouri (USA). Click here for the Wikipedia article.
1995 - Children's Peace Statue, Plaza Resolana, 401 Old Taos Highway, Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA). A project of Arroyo del Oso School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Proposed for Los Alamos but turned down by County Council. The statue is a popular venue for the deposition of origami peace cranes. Moved from Plaza Resolana? Entry #618 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).
About 1995 - Children's Statue, A.K. Bissell Park, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (USA). Donated to city by the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club (ORBRC).
1995 - Statue of Sadako Sasaki, United Nations Peace Plaza, Lexington Avenue & Walnut Street, Independence, Missouri (USA). Near auditorum where President Truman declared the creation of the United Nations. Maintained by Community of Christ (Reorganized Mormon Church). Click here for air view.
August 6, 1995 - Sadako Peace Garden, 800 El Bosque Road, Santa Barbara, California (USA). Designed by Isabelle Greene & Irma Cavet. A project of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation & La Casa de Maria. Dedicated on 50th anniversary of Hiroshima. Joined the Gardens for Peace network on June 30, 2002. Entry #154 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).
March 31, 1996 - "Children Trusting in the Future," Nagasaki (Japan). "Erected in tribute to the young people of Asia who suffered in the fires of war while trusting in the furure... Represents two girls who disappeared into the sky over Nagasaki praying for a peaceful world free of nuclear weapons." Based on a painting by Hiroshi Matsuzoe and a letter from Mrs. Shina Fukutome, mother of one of the two dead girls depicted in the painting.
July 1997 - "Atomic Bombing 50th Anniversary Commemorative Projects Monument," Nagasaki (Japan). "By Nagasaki-born sculptor Naoki Tominaga. Expresses horror of the atomic bombing, prays for repose of the souls of the victims, and -- through the form of a stricken child sleeping in her mother's warm embrace -- reaches with great motherly compassion and pleas for eternal peace toward a prosperous Japan of the 21st century."
1998 - Bell of Peace ("Hirarillon"), Okahigashi Cho Park, Hirakata?, Osaka (Japan). Carillon (Western-style bells) and monument depicting the legend of separated lovers, Princess Shokujo (the star Vega) and (Prince Kengyu (the star Altair), right image.
1998 - Children's Peace Center, Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation, 4 East University Parkway, Baltimore, Maryland (USA). "A Children’s Peace and Memorial Garden...was created in memory of children that have been killed each year in Baltimore City due to street violence, and to offer a space for contemplation and healing." Handmade tiles commemorating the lives of children are embedded near the site. See TKF Foundation.
1999 - Puellae / Girls, Sculpture Garden, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (USA). "Testament to a story Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz heard about children who froze to death being tansported from Poland to Germany during World War II."
1999 - Bust of Anne Frank, Courtyard, British Library, London (England). Sculpted by Doreen Kern. Marks 70th anniversary of Frank's birth. One of 309 London monuments in Kershman (2007), page 349.
April 19, 2000 - Room of Hope, Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (USA). Final room in the memorial commemorating the victims of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. Design based on the story of Sadako Sasaki. An exhibit explains who she was, and the ceiling is entirely covered with brass peace cranes.
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2000 - Memorial to the Child Victims of the War, Lidice (Czech Republic). 82 bronze statues of children (42 girls and 40 boys) aged 1 to 16 honoring the children who the Nazis murdered at the Chelmno extrermination camp in the summer of 1942. Academic sculptor "Marie Uchytilová worked on this monument all her life, and it was completed after her death by her husband Jiri Václav Hampl in 2000. It is the largest monument to child victims you can see in the whole world and it is very moving."
2001 - Bruderhof Peace Barn, Spring Valley Bruderhof, Farmington, Pennsylvania (USA). "Two days after 9/11/2001, the 5th through 8th grade students of the Spring Valley Bruderhof School wanted to do something for peace. They decided to convert an old barn into a museum for peace and a memorial for the victims of terrorism and war. In addition they have handcrafted memorial benches for each passenger and crew member of Flight 93, which are at the crash site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania."
November 9, 2001 - Holocaust Maenmal der Kinder / Children's Holocaust Memorial, Whitwell Middle School, Whitwell, Marion County (near Chattanooga), Tennessee (USA). "An authentic German railcar filled with 11 million paper clips (6 million for murdered Jews & 5 million for Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses & other groups). Dedicated on the anniversary of Kristallnacht. A sculpture designed by an artist from Ooltewah, Tennessee, stands next to the car, memorializing the 1.5 million children murdered by the Nazis and incorporating another 11 million paper clips." Click here for other WW-II rail cars being used as Holocaust monuments.
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.
March 9, 2002 - Centre of the Tokyo Raid & War Damage, Kitasuna 1-5-4, Koto-ku, Tokyo (Japan). Documents the fire bombing of downtown Tokyo (Shitamachi) by some 300 American bombers on March 10, 1945. Director is Katsumoto Saotome. Right image shows "Children's World Peace" statue.
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T2001 - "Circle of Peace" Sculpture, Benson Park Sculpture Garden, Loveland, Colorado (USA). Sculpture depicts seven children of different racial backgrounds playing. By Gary Lee Price. S
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T2003 - "Circle of Peace" Sculpture, Hospital for Women & Children, Huntsville, Alabama (USA). Sculpture by Gary Lee Price. Same sculpture erected in Loveland, Colorado (USA) in 2001. Info courtesy of Anna Lee.
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T2002 - "Children of Peace", Garden Walk, Public Library, Downers Grove, Illinois (USA). Click here to see the statue's installation. Artist Gary Lee Price of Springville, Utah, sells copies of this sculpture. Click here for prices & other information. G
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TSeptember 5, 2002 - Garden for Peace (GFP), State Botanical Garden of Georgia, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia (USA). One of several GFP's sponsored by Gardens for Peace, Atlanta, Georgia (USA).
May 2003 - International Children's Peace Sculpture, Kyoto Musuem for World Peace, Kyoto (Japan). Model of a sculpture made by Kyoto HS students after "Travis, a junior HS student from New Mexico," said at a peace seminar in Hiroshima that he'd like to see such sculptures erected all over the world. Man in photo is Prof. Ikuro Anzai, founding director of the museum.
2003 - Worlds Children Peace Monument (WCPM), Coe Lake Park, Berea, Ohio. "Designed at the ARK in Berea as a project of the International Center for Environmental Arts (ICEA)... Will be the largest art work dedicated to a sustainable Culture of Peace as Peace Stones are added annualy to cities around the World. Officially inaugurated in 2003 at the 3rd World Peace Conference, Children of the Earth, in Verbania, Lago Maggiore, Italy, by American Cultural Ambassadors David and Renate Jakupca, where they received an Italian Medal of Arts."
2004 - "Peace Crane Wall, the project of a Las Cruces couple, Quakers Tim Reed & Vickie Aldrich. Inspired by the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park, Tim & Vickie decided to create a monument with an origami crane & a brief biography & photo, if available, of every US service man & woman who dies in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. I first met them when we were a few years into what has become the longest continued conflict in our nation's history. Since then, Vickie has taken the ever-growing memorial on a 2008 trip to Washington, D.C., and there have been displays of all or parts of the memorial at sites ranging from Día de los Muertos observances on the Mesilla Plaza to the Las Cruces Veterans Park. "There were over 5,000 cranes when we updated it last year. We last set it up on April 9 near Johnson Park, by the Branigan Library," she said."
In Progress - "Big Book: Pages for Peace Project", Groton-Dunstable Regional School District, Groton, Massachusetts (USA). "In October 2004, eight fifth grade students started making a book filled with student literary offerings that would be accepted into the Guinness ,Book of World Records. Today, members of the "Bookmakers and Dreamers Club" ae well on their way to creating the world's largest book - and to focus its subject on world peace. Each page will be 12 feet tall by 10 feet wide. Hundreds of liters of ink will be required to cover 90-square feet on each of 500-double sided pages." The students recently received letters from Blase Bonpane, Howard Zinn, Danny Schechter, Leslie Cagan, Dahr Jamail, Lucinda Marshall, Kathy Kelly, Fr. Roy Bourgeois, Cathy Hoffman, Sayre Sheldon, Helen Caldicott & Desmond Tutu. They have also heard from Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou & Martin Sheen, along with hundreds of everyday people.
July 9, 2005 - Monument in memory of Anne Frank, Merwedeplein Square, Amsterdam (Netherlands). Anne Frank [1929-19458] lived on the Merwedeplein from 1933 to 1942. In 2004, bookseller Gert-Jan Jimmink proposed a monument. It was sculpted by local sculptor Jet Schepp.
August 6, 2006 - "Peace is a promise of future," Narvik (Norway). Sculpture of a sleeping child by Håkon Anton Fagerås. Design incorporates on a separate pedestal a rock from Hiroshima's ground zero given earlier to Narik by the mayor of Hiroshima. One of three peace sculptures in Narvik. Dedicated in 1956, 1995 and 2006. Narvik is known as a city of peace.
October 25, 2006 - "Spirit of Peace," Peace Garden, Lyndale Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA). Sculpture by artist Caprice Glaser topped by giant "origami" peace crane.
October 26, 2006 - House of Peace & Dialogue (HPD), Tibetan Children's Village (TCV), Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh (India). "A peace promoting initiative for youth from all over the world. Based on the firm belief that dialogue and respect for all forms of life are the keys in reducing conflict and creating a platform for coexistence and peace... Inaugurated in the presence and blessings of His Holyness the XVII Galwa Karamapa Rinpoche [in image] & the project's partner Mr. Svein Wilhelmsen, Chairman, Basecamp Explorer Co. & his delegates including Dr. Lars and Ms. Tina Frisk and several other visitors." Dharamsala is the home of the Dalai Lama.
May 31, 2008 - "Million Penny Project," Groton-Dunstable Middle School, Groton, Massachusetts (USA). Clear acrylic 5x6 foot container filled 2 feet deep with 1,500,000 US pennies, representing each of the 1,500,000 Jewish children killed during the Holocaust. Inspired by the paper clip project in Whitwell, Tennessee (qv), students of teacher Niki Rockwell began collecting pennies in 2006. Donations were received from Polish Holocaust survivor Norman Salsitz, Russian Jewish descendent A. Raymond Tye, and many others. Info & image courtesy of Jayme Kulesz.
August 2, 2008 - Peace Cranes from Webb School Peace Project, photographed at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, Knoxville, Tennessee (USA). Just a few of the many peace cranes sent to the church immediately after a tragic shooting on July 27, 2008.
August 6, 2008 - "Stories of Hope," permanent exhibit at Peace Resource Center (PRC), Wilmington College of Ohio, Wilmington, Ohio (USA). Highlights four stories: PRC founder Barbara Lonard Reynolds [1916-1990], Sadako Sasaki [1943-1955], the Hiroshima Maidens, and Dr. Takashi Nagai [1908-1951], the first published writer of the A-Bomb experience. The PRC has "the world's largest collection (outside of Japan) of reference materials related to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Entry #820 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001). One of 27 US museums in "Museums for Peace Worldwide" edited by Kazuyo Yamane (2008).
October 23, 2008 - "Peace," Mt. Evans Hospice & Home Health Care, Evergreen Parkway, Evergreen, Colorado (USA). "Chosen from 78 submissions, the piece by Lorri Acott-Fowler is a fourteen foot bronze figure, reaching up to the sky and releasing multi-colored origami folded cranes." Click here to see videio of the artist's dedication speech.
July 15, 2009 - Peace Monument, Kampala & Juba Road, Gulu (Uganda). To commemorate education’s importance in ensuring peace, The Dutch Embassy commissioned a sculpture conisting of three destroyed guns at the feet of a girl and boy reading a pile of text books. After speaking at length about education’s role in a post-conflict environment, the Dutch Ambassador, Jeroen Verheul, celebrated the sculpture’s unveiling by hosting a lunch for local community leaders. The books, Verheul noted, portrayed education as a pillar of knowledge, an instrument of reconciliation and a basis for moral building.
September 9, 2009 - Hiroshima Peace Monument, Ottakring District, Vienna (Austria). "Some 100 people from Japan and Austria attended the unveiling Wednesday of a stone peace monument featuring a flagstone that was exposed to radiation in the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The Vienna monument is linked with a children's peace monument in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park that is dedicated to Sadako Sasaki [1943-1955], a girl exposed to atomic radiation at the age of 2 & who died at age 12 from a radiation-caused illness. Austrian children's writer Karl Bruckner [1906-1982] authored "Sadako will leben" ("The Day of the Bomb") in 1961 with Sasaki as its heroine. The book has been translated into more than 20 languages. Citizens' groups in Hiroshima & Vienna decided to build the stone monument in the Austrian capital's Ottakring district, Bruckner's home area, to mark the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Japan & Austria. The Hiroshima Municipal Government contributed the flagstone from Hiroshima's old City Hall. It measures 180 cm high & weighs about 800 kg. It is inscribed with the words "world peace" in Japanese & German."
September 22, 2012 - Peace Crane, USS Arizona Memorial, World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (USA). "The paper crane, one of five kept by Sasaki's brother, Masahiro Sasaki, 71, will be put on permanent exhibit in about three months at the visitor center of the USS Arizona, which was sunk by Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The Sasaki family donated it in hopes that Japan & the US can overcome resentment & animosity over the war & strengthen their relationship. The exhibit came about with the assistance of Clifton Truman Daniel, the eldest grandson of US. President Harry Truman, who ordered the atomic bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki in 1945."
October 2013 - Children's Peace Monument, Burwell Elementary School, 204 South 4th Avenue, Burwell, Nebraska (USA). Includes globe & two peace doves. Inspired by Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima (Japan) [qv] during a 6th grade study of "the theme words: Hope, Peace, Tolerance, Patriotism, Freedom, Teamwork & Education." Money raised by the students of Joy Schott. Image (from video) is best available on-line. Click here for article (& PDF image) in school newsletter.
2013-2014 - “Master Peace,” Turquoise Trail Sculpture Garden, 3453 State Highway 14 N., Cerrillos, near Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA). "Powder coated cast stainless steel, on granite, 24' x 20' x 20, by Kevin and Jennifer Box... The 3-acre Turquoise Trail Sculpture Garden is a private residence nestled in the Little Garden of the Gods on Highway 14, a National Scenic Byway, with towering rock formations... 'Master Peace' is a sculpture of over 1,000 cast metal cranes with 500 cranes gathered together in a twenty-five foot tall monument & the remaining 500 scattered into the world as individual pieces. The black granite base below the monument reflects all 1,000 cranes keeping them together forever in a place of peace."
June 9, 2016 - Origami Peace Cranes, Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima (Japan). Donated (and said to have been folded) by US President Barak Obama during his visit to Hiroshima.
September 2016 - Observation Tower, Hiroshima Orizuru Tower (Paper Crane Tower), Hiroshima (Japan). "Has views from the 12th floor of Peace Memorial Park & Atomic Bomb Dome. Completed on July 6 ahead of opening to sightseers on July 11. Includes a chimney-like glass wall 4 meters by 50 meters running the height of the tower that is viewable from the building’s exterior. Visitors will be able to toss their handmade origami paper cranes into it from the 12th floor with the aim of filling the entire space as a monument for peace...with about a million paper cranes to fill up the 'paper crane wall.' Owned by car dealer Hiroshima Mazda Co., the tower will house souvenir shops, offices, rental conference rooms & other facilities. Admission to the observation deck is 1,700 yen ($16.80) for adults. 'We hope the tower will become place for people to contemplate peace,' a Hiroshima Mazda representative said."
March 7, 2017 - "Fearless Girl," Bowling Green Park, New York City, New York (USA). "In Manhattan's Financial District. A a bronze sculpture of a defiant girl by Kristen Visbal. Installed by State Street Global Advisors across from "Charging Bull" [aka the Wall Street Bull] another bronze, on the eve of International Women's Day. Meant to 'send a message' about workplace gender diversity & encourage companies to recruit women to their boards. The sculpture's installation is temporary [but] is expected to stay in place at least several weeks. It was initially given a New York City Hall permit for one week, later extended to 30 days. A petition on change.org asking for the statue to be made permanent gathered 2,500 signatures in its first 48 hours."
Future - "Pieces for Peace mosaic." "An Israeli-Palestinian art-dialogue project for children. More than 150 Palestinian & Israeli youth have met over the last 3 years to create 330 square feet of mosaic. This work of art is being painstakingly created from thousands of mosaic tiles. The finished mosaic project will be placed in a park on the Israel-Palestine border. The mosaic promises a fear-free future, and we hope it will be a meeting place for the peoples of the region and the world." Please email your comments & questions to geovisual at comcast.net. Thank you.