Peace Monuments in Southwestern States (USA) (States of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico & Utah)

Right click image to enlarge.

About 1000 - Taos Pueblo, Taos, New Mexico (USA). "The only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO & a National Historic Landmark [by the US Department of the Interior]. The multi-storied adobe buildings have been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years."

C L O C K

About 1906 - Clock permanently set at 8:00, Union Printers Home, 101 South Union Boulevad, Colorado Springs, Colorado (USA). The International Typographical Union (ITU) built this sanitarium in 1892, won the eight hour day in 1906, and then permanently set the clock on the sanitarium tower at 8:00 o'clock. /// The ITU was the largest & stongest union within the AF of L.

May 30, 1918 - Ludlow Monument, Ludlow, Colorado (USA). Dedicated on Memorial Day to honor the 20 victims of the "Ludlow massacre" of April 20, 1914. Vandalized in 2003 with the heads and arms of the statue figures cut and removed, but has undergone repair. Maintained by United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). Next to the monument are a cellar door and stairs leading down into the "death pit" where 11 children and two women died when fire broke out in the coal miners' tent city during their battle with the Colorado state militia. Visited by EWL.

November 11, 1918 - Peace Tree, Bromwell Elementary School, 2500 East Fourth Avenue, Denver, Colorado (USA). "Planted by Bromwell students to mark the end of World War I (part of many celebrations held nationwide to mark the first Armistice Day)... In 1994, the tree was struck by Dutch Elm disease [upper right image]... Bromwell’s PTSA raised money for chainsaw sculptor David Mitchell to carve the trunk into the shape of an eagle, our school mascot, so that the two main branches became wide-spread wings. The head was lowered, as though the eagle was carrying an olive branch, a well-known symbol of peace. The carving was about fifteen feet high [bottom image]... Finally, in 2006, it became clear that the Peace Tree, now called “The Eagle Tree” by our youngest students, was decaying from within and could topple and hurt someone. Our principal made the difficult decision to have it destroyed. /// It is somewhat sad that this important landmark is no longer a part of our community. In another way, it may be fitting. After all, Armistice Day is now remembered by very few, and fewer still are the people who actually experienced the horrors or the devastation of 'the war to end all wars.' Time moves on, and that is particularly true on the school playground where children run and laugh, and grow so quickly. The Peace Tree is gone now, and there are few clues to where it once stood. We have a few photographs and illustrations made by children [upper left image]. Otherwise, there is only the story."

1931 - Historical Marker, Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, Southwestern shore of Fish Lake, Sevier County, Utah (USA). Text: "PEACE TREATY WITH FISH LAKE INDIANS Was Made Here June 14, 1873 This treaty led up to the final treaty at Cedar Grove in Grass Valley July 1, 1873, ending the Black Hawk Indian War in Southern Utah. Present at the treaty council were: Gen. Wm. B. Pace [1832-1907] George Evans Byron Pace Albert Thurber William Jex E.R. Bean G.W. Bean Abraham Halliday Wm. Robinson Chief Tabiona and 15 others." This treaty has never been broken.

September 1939 - Historical Marker #50, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Heber City, Wasatch County, Utah (USA). Text: "INDIAN PEACE TREATY. Beautiful Provo Valley, named from River and once Chief Walker's hunting ground. Was colonized 1859-60 by 18 families called by Brigham Young [1801-1877]. 1864 Indian troubles forced pioneers to build fort at Heber. Bishop Jos. S. Murdock [1822-1899] friendly with the Indians, invited Chief Tabby and tribe to his home (3 BLKs 1.1 E) Aug. 20, 1867, where peace treaty was signed and barbecue held on John Carroll's lot. This ended Indian depredations in this valley, proving Brigham Young's statement - 'It's better to feed the Indians than to fight them.' Wasatch County Camps."

1940 - International Peace Gardens, Jordan Park, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). 24 gardens covering 8.25 acres. Initiated by Mrs. O. A. Wiesley of the SLC Council of Women. Developed by local ethnic & national groups 1948-1989. Includes Little Mermaid from Copenhagen, the Matterhorn, Olmec Head from Mexico, "Peace on Earth" statue (qv), Japanese Garden & 84 peace poles from the 2002 Winter Olympics (qv). Image shows Japanese garden added in 1950. Entry #996 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

August 1941 - Rotary Peace Memorial, Mount Evans, Colorado (USA). Sundial on summit of Mount Evans 14,264 feet (4,350 meters) above sea level. Can be reached by the highest paved road in North America. Marks convention in Denver attended only by Rotarians from USA, Canada, Mexico & Cuba (due to the difficulty of international travel durng WW-II). Click here for rededication on July 15, 2006.

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." Sculpted by Monmon sculptor Avard T. Fairbanks [1897-1987].

Date? - "Haven of Peace," International Peace Gardens, Jordan Park, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). Depicts anvil for forging swords into plowshares. Where is this monument exactly?

c1957 - Nevada Peace Camp, near Nevada Test Site, Nye County, 100 km NW of Las Vegas, Nevada (USA). "An undefined space of land in the desert where anti-war groups, anti-nuclear coalitions, environmentalists & Western Shoshone Indians have gathered over...five decades to protest against activities at the Nevada National Security Site, the US government's continental nuclear weapons testing ground. This particular place, commonly referred to as the Peace Camp, is a place where more than 200 national & international groups have congregated to support & participate in the protests for hours, days & weeks at a time. The protesters are generally a combination of marginalized special interest groups who convene at the camp to express their views & feelings, forming a loosely organized community of short duration. The Peace Camp is the only location in the USA recognized & used repeatedly by so many groups to express their objections to national & world trends in nuclear testing, nuclear waste storage, various wars & devastation of the earth..." /// "The Peace Camp site still contains tent pads, ornamental rock formations & hundreds of pieces of graffiti. 'This archaeological research is unique...the only known intact Cold War protest camp in the world [sic],' said Dr. Colleen Beck, archaeologist with the Las Vegas-based Desert Research Institute." /// "From 1986 through 1994, two years after the US put a hold on full-scale nuclear weapons testing, 536 anti-nuclear protests were held at the Nevada Test Site involving 37,488 participants & 15,740 arrests, according to government records. Those arrested included the astronomer Carl Sagan & the actors Kris Kristofferson, Martin Sheen & Robert Blake."

About 1960 - Peace Sculpture, Gilgal Sculpture Garden, 749 East 500 South, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). "Designed and created by Mormon masonry contractor Thomas Battersby Child, Jr. [1888-1963] after 1945, the Gilgal Sculpture Garden contains 12 original sculptures and over 70 stones engraved with scriptures, poems, and literary texts." "Farther down, you'll notice an odd iron structure. It is meant to represent swords and spears that have been beaten into ploughshares."

Date? - Swetsville Zoo, 4801 East Harmony Road, Timnath, Fort Collins, Colorado (USA). Depicts plow & Christian cross to invoke Isaiah 2:4. All "animals" in this "zoo" were built by Bill Swets from car parts, farm machinery, and scrap metal. Click here for similar monuments.

1965 - Drop City, 4 miles (6 km) north of Trinidad, Colorado (USA). The first rural "hippy" commune. "Inspired by architectural ideas of Buckminster Fuller [1895-1983] & Steve Baer, residents constructed geodesic domes and zonohedra to house themselves, using geometric panels made from the metal of automobile roofs & other inexpensive materials. In 1967, the group, now consisting of 10 core people, won Fuller's 'Dymaxion award' for ...for 'poetically economic' domed living structures."

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' and 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, and 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, and the church building itself is stuffed with more junk [from the Black Hole]."

1976 - "The Dawn of a New Era: Peace," 1060 South 900 West, International Peace Gardens, North entrance, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). Concrete & terrazzo sculpture by Avard T. Fairbanks [1897-1987]. Many of the sculptures on Temple Square in Salt Lake City are by Fairbanks.

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."

1979 - "Offering of the Sacred Pipe," Albuquerque Museum, 2000 Mountain Road, NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA). Monumental bronze by Native American artist Allan Houser [1914-1994]. "A stylized Native American Indian stands wearing a feather headdress & long robe. He extends his arms out in front of himself, offering a peace pipe with both hands." Duplicate of statues in Scottsdale, Arizona, & at US Mission to the United Nations in New York City (qv).

Date? - "Offering of the Sacred Pipe," Fitness Centre Patio, above the Centre for Well-Being Spa, The Phoenecian, 6000 East Camelback Road, Scottsdale, Arizona (USA). Monumental bronze by Native American artist Allan Houser [1914-1994]. Duplicate of statues in Albuquerque, New Mexico, & at US Mission to the United Nations, New York City (qv).

1980? - Taos Peace House & Infoshop, 801 Arroyo Seco, Taos, New Mexico (USA). "Food Not Bombs started in 1980 when eight college aged activists dressed as generals & started holding bake sales pretending to buy a bomber. Thirty years later, Food Not Bombs continues to encourage the redirection of our resources from the military towards human needs."

1987 - Ro Ho En / Japanese Friendship Garden, Phoenix, Arizona (USA). "Created to express the positive bond between the peoples of the USA & Japan. Phoenix has had a sister city relationship with Himeji (Japan) since 1976. In 1987 the Mayor of Himeji proposed the garden. Representatives from Himeji have been instrumental in the garden's design & development ever since."

1989 - Nederland Peace Garden #1, Nederland, Colorado (USA). "By the pedestrial bridge across from the Visitors' Center. Contains a blue spruce in memory of Liz Caile, a local writer on peace & enviornmental subjects, and a Peace Pole made by woodcarver Scott Harrison in memory of Stanley Wright." Entry #192 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001). According to Bennett (p.6), "Nederland has a peace park at each end of town."

1990 - Nederland Peace Garden #2, just West of Hwy 119 & South of E 3rd Street, Nederland, Colorado (USA). "Simple Gift", The Nederland Peace sculpture, was presented to the town of Nederland by the Mountain Forum for Peace. David Current, a local artist, created this sculpture with the following inscription: "To those who in all periods and places reach out to one another in peace." The sculpture portrays two life size figures, a pioneer child & a Native American girl passing a feather as they reach out in friendship. Entry #193 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

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.

1993 - "Temple of the Goddess Spirituality Dedicated to Sekhmet" at Cactus Springs, Indian Springs, Nevada. Has "Madre del Mundo" sculpture" (right image) by Marsha Anne Gomez [1951-1998] which is identical to the one at the Peace Farm, between Amarillo & Panhandle, Texas (USA).

August 1993 - Dalton Trumbo Fountain Court, University Memorial Center (UMC), Colorado University (CU), Boulder, Colorado (USA). Named for Dalton Trumbo [1905-1976] the blacklisted author and CU alumnus who stood up to Senator Joe McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947. "Free-speech area" for campus events such as speeches and rallies. Rehabilitated in 2003. Visited by EWL.

1994 - Peace Mural, Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado (USA). "Depicts all of the children of the world taking the weapons from each country on earth and giving them to a central figure...who has this iron fist and anvil in his hand that is totally out of proportion to the child's body, beating the swords into plowshares."

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).

1998 Date? Sept. 30, 1998 Oct. 1998 -Mid 1999 May 2002 Jan. 2003 May 2003 July 2005 August 2006

1998 - The Los Alamos Study Group Billboard Campaign, Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA). "Beginning in 1998, visitors to New Mexico could encounter one of the most direct & imaginative efforts to engage New Mexico’s nuclear economy simply by driving out of the Albuquerque International Airport. On the main exit [of] the airport, a large billboard confronted motorists with an image of a rainbow-enhanced desert & the words (see top image at left): 'Welcome to New Mexico: America’s Nuclear Weapons Colony.' Seeking to defamiliarize the desert landscape through shock, the billboard both evokes & inverts the familiar portrait of New Mexico as the 'Land of Enchantment,' a zone of pristine nature & exotic culture. A Web site address on the billboard - www.lasg.org - serves as both a signature & an invitation for viewers to learn more about the scale of the US nuclear project in New Mexico (which includes two of the three national weapons laboratories, the largest missile testing range in the continental USA, the largest arsenal of US nuclear weapons & the most active US nuclear waste dumps). By recontextualizing a centrally located commercial space, the billboard challenges residents & visitors alike to recognize an invisible presence in New Mexico, one that colonizes the austere beauty of the landscape with the nuclear science, toxicity & militarism of a global superpower. The 'Welcome' sign was merely the first salvo in an ongoing billboard campaign orchestrated by the Los Alamos Study Group (LASG), a nonproliferation & peace activism group formed in the waning days of the Cold War. As one of the most vocal nuclear watchdog groups in New Mexico, the LASG has vigorously challenged the post–Cold War consolidation of nuclear weapons science at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) while promoting public education about the accruing environmental effects of the nuclear complex. In a December 2003 discussion in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Greg Mello, the cofounder & director of the LASG, explained to me that the billboards started as a response to a lack of public conversation about the evolution of the nuclear complex in New Mexico at the end of the 1990's. They were also a reaction to the high cost & episodic nature of newspapers, radio & television. Billboards could make a long-term, highly visible statement at, as Mello calculates it, 'one-tenth of a cent per viewer.' Billboards thus offered a new kind of political space that could perform a complex set of ideological tasks in an economical manner. From the start, the goals of the LASG billboard project have been to puncture the normality of the nuclear economy by linking New Mexico’s two leading industries -tourism & nuclear weapons - and to present a stable & highly visible space for political dissent & nuclear critique. For Mello, the project is also intended to 'slow down' the media space in order to encourage public contemplation in a largely commuter & tourist economy, thereby transforming New Mexico’s road culture into a new conceptual space for political critique. As part of a larger activist effort in New Mexico to 'use the tourists to get rid of the plutonium, or the plutonium to get rid of the tourists,' the LASG project, as described by Mello, is interested in provoking a 'more enlightened form of tourism,' one that could ultimately contribute to the LASG’s environmental & nonproliferation efforts. Placed for maximum visibility along the main thoroughfares and highways that connect Albuquerque to Santa Fe & ultimately Los Alamos, the LASG billboards speak directly to occupants of the twenty-five thousand cars that travel Interstate 25 daily. Mello told me that the LASG initially had specific audiences in mind for the billboard campaign, namely, laboratory management (Los Alamos National Laboratory is a Department of Energy institution managed by the University of California), state & federal politicians, & particularly new recruits to the weapons program who might be visiting on job interviews. By visually disrupting the assumed social consensus on the role of the nuclear economy in New Mexico, the LASG seeks to document for policy makers & employees evidence of local resistance & hope for an alternative nuclear future. The billboard project is also a direct response to decreasing access to policy makers & laboratory personnel after a brief period of post–Cold War openness. After a series of security scandals at Los Alamos in 2002), expanding secrecy within the nuclear complex has forced activists to seek an alternative public sphere to mobilize for change. Pursuing the LASG’s political agenda in visual statements that are 48 feet wide by 18 feet high, the billboard campaign has raised a wide range of provocative issues since 1998. The first billboards provided a direct counterdiscourse to the US nuclear project in New Mexico, while more recent efforts have responded to the expanding forms of US militarism under the Bush administration’s 'war on terror.' Evoking the 1930' Works Progress Administration (WPA) aesthetic that is featured in much of the tourist literature about New Mexico, the second LASG billboard asks: 'New Mexico: #1 in Nuclear Weapons, #1 in Poverty - Coincidence?.' Here, the LASG challenges the primary local justification for the nuclear weapons complex - that it provides jobs for New Mexicans. But while LANL currently maintains an annual budget of over $2 billion, New Mexico has for decades competed for the title of poorest state in America. Marshaling equally alarming statistics about violent crime, drug abuse, suicide, alcoholism & the condition of the public school system in New Mexico, the LASG has argued that the nuclear economy has actually prevented other sustainable industries from developing, creating a highly distorted regional economy dangerously reliant on external investments. For Mello, New Mexico is 'held hostage' to Washington, D.C., because of its poverty. Consequently, New Mexico is part of that rural American economic space that relies on toxicity, vice, security & industrial livestock or, as Mello puts it, the 'four P's - plutonium, poker, prisons & pigs.' By arguing that the nuclear complex prevents the development of a sustainable regional economy, the 'Coincidence' billboard also moves the discussion of what constitutes security from the realm of geopolitics to the terms of everyday life...." -- By Joseph Masco in "Public Culture" (2005).

Before 1999 - Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park, Kunzang Palyul Choling (KPC) of Sedona, 2650 Pueblo Drive, Sedona, Arizona (USA). See similar stupa & peace park in Poolesville, Maryland (USA).

1999 - Gordon Hirabayashi Campground, Sky Island Scenic Byway, Coronado National Forest (Arizona). "The site was built in 1937 as a Federal prison camp... During WW-II, some prisoners were conscientious objectors; some were Japanese Americans protesting the relocation. Gordon Hirabayashi refused a Relocation order and served his sentence here after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction." "Because the Federal Attorney would not provide transportation, Hirabayashi hitchhiked alone from Spokane, Washingtion, to Tucson to serve his sentence at the honor camp in the Santa Catalina Mountains."

Date? - Korean War Memorial, Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, Phoenix, Arizona (USA). Across the street from the Arizona state house. "A stylized pagoda with a ceremonial temple bell weighing approximately two tons." Bell probably made in Korea.

January 2001 - Holocaust & Intolerance Museum of New Mexico, 616 Central Avenue SW, Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA). "We are unique: Our purpose is to educate people about the Holocaust as well as to teach them about other genocides and forms of bullying that have affected people around the world. We are not limited to one religion, culture, geographic area, or time." Co-founded by Holocaust survivor Werner Gellert. Click here for more information. Chick here for other monuments to tolerance. Right photo by EWL.

S C U L P T

2001 - "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 C U L P T

2003 - "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.

February 3, 2002 - Olympic Peace Pole Path, Olympic Village, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). 84 peace poles -- one for each participating country in the Winter Olympics. Moved to the International Peace Gardens (qv) after the games. "An additional 84 Peace Poles were donated to each country's athletic delegation to take home with them." Image shows poles ready for shipment at Peace Pole Makers USA, Maple City, Michigan (USA).

2002 - 84 Peace Poles, International Peace Gardens (qv), Jordan Park, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). Moved here from Olympic Village after the Winter Olympic Games. One pole for each competing nation. A duplicate pole was taken home by each team.

Date? - Statue of Diana (The Huntress), Union Depot (1889), Pueblo, Colorado, USA. Copy of Fuente de la Diana Cazadora (1942) in Chapultepec Park, Mexico City. Gift from sister city Puebla (Mexico) to the City of Pueblo, Colorado (USA). Visited by EWL.

2004 - Amitabha Stupa & Peace Park, Sedona, Arizona (USA). "About halfway between Phoenix & the Grand Canyon, is a must-visit place for spiritual seekers the world over. Since 2004, such visitors have been flocking to Sedona’s Amitabha Stupa. (Some call it Sedona’s newest vortex.) Sitting majestically among the pinion & juniper pines, and surrounded by a landscape of stunning crimson spires, it is a jewel to behold. On any given day, dozens of visitors trek up the short winding trails to the 36 foot Amitabha Stupa & the smaller Tara Stupa for prayer, meditation, healing & the experience of peace in a sacred place." /// "Regrettably the future of the Peace Park as a Sedona destination is uncertain. A loan totaling $698,000 must be paid off by June 15, 2012, in order to secure the sacred land the Stupa & Peace Park rests upon."

About 2004 - Peace Wall, Castle Rock, Bisbee, Arizona (USA). "Castle Rock is an imposing hunk of rock on the side of Tombstone Canyon in Bisbee, Arizona. British-born artist Rose Johnson [1961-2009] was commissioned by the city of Bisbee to paint a mural dedicated to world peace on a concrete wall that abuts Castle Rock."

September 21, 2004 - "Peace Grove," Jordan Park, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). Grove of 11 Giant Sequoia trees. "Vaughn Lovejoy, who was then working for Tree Utah, made this one happen." // "Decicated on International Day of Peace by representatives from the Buddhist, Quaker, Jewish, LDS, Catholic, Episcopalian, Unitarian, Muslim, Baha'i & Native American religions. Representatives from the state Hispanic & Asian cultural ofices were also in attendance. Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Mulims, Native Americans & agnostics, alike, worked side by side that crisp afternoon to plant the young sequoia trees..." Information courtesy of Deb Sawyer, Gandhi Alliance for Peace. N.B.: No photo found. Image shows what the grove might look life after it grows to maturity.

August 2005 - "Science On a Sphere" (SOS)®, Earth System Research Laboratory, National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, Colorado (USA). A room sized, global display system that uses computers and video projectors to display planetary data onto a six foot diameter sphere, analogous to a giant animated globe. Now installed at many locations worldwide. A patent was awarded to NOAA for "Science On a Sphere"® in August 2005, with Dr. Alexander "Sandy" MacDonald credited as the inventor.

After 2005 - Memorial to Joseph Rotblat, in front of the Omega Peace Institute (OPI), Arkansas Avenue, North Mesa, Los Alamos, New Mexico (USA). Erected by Ed Grothus [1923-2009]. Sir Joseph Rotblat [1908-2005] was a Polish-born Jew & British-naturalised physicist who worked at Los Alamos during World War II, then became the only physicist to leave the Manhattan Project on the grounds of conscience (though others later refused to work on atomic bombs after the defeat of Japan). He was secretary general of the Pugwash Conferences on Science & World Affairs from its founding [in 1957] until 1973. Rotblat & the Pugwash Conferences jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 for their efforts towards nuclear disarmament."

February 24, 2007 - "City of Peace," Tucson, Arizona (USA). "6’x 12’ Mobile Mural project as part of the Season of Nonviolence. Community members were invited to paint the mobile mural during the annual Tucson Peace Fair held in Reid Park. About 45 people of all ages participated throughout the day. Arranged by Michael B. Schwartz." Notice world with South Pole at top.

April 28, 2007 - Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, National Park Service, Big Sandy Creek, Kiowa County, Colorodo (USA). Pays tribute to the approximately 400 Cheyenne and Arapaho people (mostly women & children) who were killed November 29, 1864, by 700 Colorado volunteers who had signed up to be soldiers for 100 days.

Summer 2007 - "Continuum" (Julie Penrose Fountain), America the Beautiful Park, Colorado Springs, Colorado (USA). "A sculptural fountain representing the life-giving movement of water between the atmosphere & the earth." "An open loop of silvery-colored steel panels outfitted with 366 water jets that line the interior contours of the form. It sits on a hidden turntable so that it's able to rotate every 15 minutes. The sculpture rises from a pool that has a complicated footprint to accommodate recirculation of the water." Designed by David Barber & Bill Burgess.

December 2007 - Doomsday Stones, Los Alamos, New Mexico (USA). As noted by Grothus' son Mike, Ed Grothus [1923-2009] "designed & commissioned two granite obelisks to mark the explosion of the first atomic bomb. The obelisks were quarried & carved in China, then shipped to Los Alamos in December 2007. The obelisks are white granite & are designed to sit on black bases, 'doomsday stones,' engraved with text in 15 languages that describe the 'most significant man-made event in human history.' Important to him among the messages engraved in the stone was, 'No one is secure unless everyone is secure.' When erected, each monument will weigh over 39 tons and stand nearly 40 feet tall. At the time of his death [on February 12, 2009], Grothus remained optimistic that the obelisks would find a home."

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.

T R E E

May 26, 2011 - "Tree of Peace," School of Dentistry & Oral Health, A. T. Still University (ATSU), Mesa, Arizona (USA). "Symbolizes how health care, & specifically dental heath, can be a bridge to world peace." "By internationally recognized artist Hedva Ser [of Paris (France)]. The original 2008 Tree of Peace is on the campus of the Hebrew University Dental School in Ein Karem, Jerusalem [image at far right]. It celebrates the collaboration between the Hebrew University & the Palestinian Dental School, Al Quds, dental students & faculty also in Jerusalem."

T R E E

2008 - "Tree of Peace," Hebrew University Dental School, Ein Karem, Jerusalem (Israel). "By internationally recognized artist Hedva Ser [of Paris (France)]. Celebrates the collaboration between the Hebrew University & the Palestinian Dental School, Al Quds, dental students & faculty also in Jerusalem." "Symbolizes how health care, & specifically dental heath, can be a bridge to world peace." See duplicate "Tree of Peace," School of Dentistry & Oral Health, A. T. Still University (ATSU), Mesa, Arizona (USA).

June 13, 2012 - Statue of Mahatma Gandhi, Center for Families, YWCA, 310 East 300 South, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). "As a lasting symbol of peace & justice, Utah sculptor Dennis Smith unveiled his statue. Boyer Jarvis, a board member of the Gandhi Alliance for Peace, described why Ghandi's image fits so well in the garden of the new justice center: 'His unique role in world history & his commitment ot truth, justice, service, and to encourage nonviolent resolution of conflict among individuals, communities and nations.'" // " Modeled at exactly life-size. Multiple castings are available." // Information courtesy of Deb Sawyer, President, Gandhi Alliance for Peace.

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 & 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."

April 13, 2014 - River of Peace Mural, Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center, Abiquiu, New Mexico (USA). "A 35 foot ceramic tile mural on the East outside wall of the Lower Pavilion. Faces the Peace Garden [& peace pole]. The mural shape echoes the Fibonacci curves contained in the layout of the Peace Garden. Clay slips in natural hues on the tiles relate to the colors of the rocks, sky & earth at Ghost Ranch. Permanently fired into the surface, a visual river of spiritual symbols from around the world is integrated into a mosaic of hand-written poems, prayers, intentions, quotes & original writings. /// Because of widespread interest in the mural & the participation of the community, Barbara Campbell & Judy Nelson-Moore decided to create 6-inch tiles using the methods & imagery from the River of Peace Mural. This is a way for people to have a 'piece of the Peace Mural' to take home. These tiles are all unique & made by hand. They provide a lovely remembrance of the mural & Ghost Ranch. Tiles are $18 & are available in the gift shop at the Ghost Ranch Welcome Center."

August 25, 2015 - "Cold War Horse," Arvada, Colorado USA). "The horse is dressed in a red HAZMAT suit, goggles & a respirator, and catches the eye." /// "[It was] created to acknowledge the history of Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, its workers & the surrounding community. During its operation Rocky Flats manufactured parts for nuclear bombs; an estimated 70,000 plutonium triggers were produced at the plant beginning in 1952. Over the years Rocky Flats experienced many routine & accidental releases [of radioactivity] into the air, soil & water, many of which eventually became public. In 1989 the FBI raided the plant because of suspected environmental crimes. Rockwell International, who operated the plant at the time, plead guilty & was ordered to pay an $18 million fine. In 1992 the plant was closed, and remediation began on what was now an EPA superfund site. Cold War Horse was created by Jeff Gipe, whose father worked in the plant." This is "Monday's Monument" #126.

In Progress - Topaz Museum, c/o Great Basin Museum, Delta, Utah (USA). "In 1991, a local Delta family donated half of an original Topaz recreation hall, which had been used as a storage shed for some 50 years. An ad hoc committee, now known as the Topaz Museum Board, was formed to decide how to restore the building to its original wartime condition."

In Progress - Amache Japanese Internment Camp, Granada, Colorado (USA). Right image by EWL.

Future - Elko Community Peace Park, Elko, Nevada (USA). "The 8.5 acre park, featuring Nevada’s natural habitat, is located on the north side of I-80 between College Parkway and Spruce Street, south of Mittry Avenue. Park partners include the City of Elko, the Friends of the Peace Park, and a growing list of volunteers and sponsors, both local and regional."

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