Peace Monuments Dedicated in 2001

Right click image to enlarge.

January 4, 2001 - Australia (Peace), near the near the Lawengruppe / Lions’ Group, Tiergarten Park, Berlin (Germany). Second of five Global Stones, each weighing between 10 and 40 tons and corresponding to a “sister stone” on one of the five continents. The pairs of stones represent the five steps towards peace. Once a year on 21st June the light of the sun connects all ten stones by reflection. Wolfgang von Schwarzenfeld, sculptor and around the world navigator, began the Global Stone Project in 1997 in Venezuela. From Mount Magnet sheep station (Australia).

January 9, 2001 - Peace, J.B. Priestley Library, University of Bradford, Bradford (England). "There are two copies of this in the library, on the ground floor and in the Commonweal Collection room, on the second floor. Chris Hoggett created both, he being the brother to David Hoggett, the first Commonweal Librarian. The word 'peace' is inscribed on the base of the sculpture in fifty-three different languages."

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.

January 26, 2001 - World Peace Bell, Maguire Gardens, Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, California (USA). One of 20 bells placed in 16 different countries by the World Peace Bell Association (WPBA) of Tokyo (Japan) of Tokyo (Japan). This is the only WPB in the USA.

April 17, 2001 - International Peace Garden, Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima (Japan). Near the Peace Bell. One of many International Peace Gardens in different countries. Presented to Hiroshima by The Hague (Netherlands).

May 4, 2001 - Garden for Peace , Caroline C. Black Garden, Thames River, New London, Connecticut (USA).

June 2001 - Shot at Dawn Memorial, National Memorial Arboretum, Lichfield, Staffordshire (England). Commemorates the 306 British & Commonwealth soldiers executed for cowardice & desertion during World War I. Portrays a young British soldier blindfolded and tied to a stake in anticipation of execution by firing squad. Created by artist Andy DeComyn & unveiled by Mrs. Gertrude Harris, daughter of Private Harry Farr who was executed on October 16, 1916.

June 2001 - Peace & Friendship Monument, Arlington Park, Bad Königshofen (Germany). Celebrates sister city relationship with Arlington, Texas (USA).

July 12, 2003 - International Peace & Friendship Monument, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, Texas (USA). Similar monument in sister city Bad Königshofen (Germany).

2001 - "Peace Movement Directory: North American Organizations, Programs, Museums and Memorials," by James Richard Bennett, founder of Omni Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology (OMNI) & Professor Emeritus of English, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA).

2001 - Europäische Museum für den Frieden / European Museum for Peace, Burg Schlaining, Rochusplatz 1, Stadtschlaining, Bergenland (Austria). "An offshoot of the Provincial Exhibition on 'War or Peace.'" Associated with the Österreichische Studienzentrum für Frieden und Konfliktlösung (ÖSFK) / Austrian Study Center for Peace & Conflict Resolution (ASPR). Site of INPM conference in 1995.

2001 - Children's Museum for Peace & Human Rights (CMPHR), 9-C/1, 8th East Street, Phase 1, D.H.A, Karachi (Pakistan). "A logical extension of, and in partnership with, the Human Rights Education Programme (HREP) which had been working in Pakistan since 1995... The CMPHR hopes to move into its custom-built premises in 2010."

M U R A L

2001 - Mural, Ibdaa Cultural Center, D’heisheh Refugee Camp, Bethlehem (Palestine). "A four-story mural produced in collaboration with the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA). Mural hugs stairs & tells history of Palestine one era per floor, ending with hopes & dreams for the future." "Depicts the history of Palestine from before the formation of the state of Israel, to the present period and ends with a depiction of hopes and dreams for a better future... Susan Greene of Break the Silence Mural Project (BTS) traveled to the West Bank of Occupied Palestine to create the four-story mural in coordination with Palestinian youth and artists. The mural was designed and painted by Palestinian youth and artists, Americans & American Jews."

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." Closed after a few years?

2001 - Jerry Rescue Monument, Clinton Square, Syracuse, New York (USA). By Sharon BuMann, "professional sculptor from Pennellville." "Commemmorates the rescue on October 1, 1851, of a fugitive slave by the name of Jerry (also known by the name of William Henry) by abolishionists... Jerry was eventually taken by wagon to Oswego, where he safely crossed Lake Ontario & into Canada."

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. Same sclupture erected in Huntsville, Alabama (USA) in 2003.

2001 - Friendship Monument, Shoreline Boulevard at Lawrence Street, Corpus Christi, Texas (USA). "Bronze sculpture of Captain Blas Maria de la Garza Falcon by artist Sherman Coleman, M.D. The Westside Business Association sponsored this statue. The statue pays tribute to Falcon, an empressario credited with founding the first Spanish settlement north of the Rio Grande, near Petronila in 1764. In 1762, Falcon was commissioned to explore the Nueces River area by Don Jose de Escandon, the Governor of Nuevo Santander, a Spanish Territory extending from the San Antonio River to the Punuco River near Vera Cruz, Mexico. He later brought the first longhorn cattle to South Texas when he established a ranch in the area."

2001 - Heiwa-no-Oka / Peace Hill Monument, Okinawa (Japan). Represents a naturally formed cave, in which many citizens of Okinawa hid and fended for themselves. On the granite archway is the inscription "A Strong Will Toward Peace." View in the images is from Peace Memorial Hall and shows Mabuni Hill beind the Peace Hill Monument.

2001 - Reconciliation Place, Parliamentary Triangle , Canberrra, Australian Capital Territory (Australia). "An urban landscape design established as a monument to reconciliation between Australia’s Indigenous people and settler population."

July 1, 2001 - Bethehem Peace Center, Bethelehem (Pasestine). Cultural Center owned and operated by Bethlehem Municipality. Located next to Manger Square between the Church of the Nativity and the Mosque of Omar.

July 17, 2001 - World Wall For Peace (WWFP), Al-Khader (Palestine). Near Bethlehem. One of many WWFP's in USA, Russia & other countries.

July 23, 2001 - Phoenix, Yantai (China). Inscribed "One moon draws us together through stone gates" in four languages. Other Pacific Rim Parks are in San Diego (USA), Tijuana (Mexico) & Vladivostok (USSR).

August 6, 2001 - Peace Watch Tower, Hiroshimna (Japan). "Displays panels with numbers & cogwheels. Top panel indicates number of days since the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Lower panel indicates the number of days since the last nuclear test. The museum turned back the lower paenl from 506 to 28 on October 13, 2010, the number of days after the USA's subcritical nuclear test on September 15, 2010. "It's a shame that the USA has shown its intention to retain nuclear weapons," said Koichiro Maeda, director of the museum, who pressed the clock's button... The peace clock was reset for the second time since North Korea's nuclear test on May 25, 2009, and for the 13th time since it was installed on August 6, 2001."

October 7, 2001 - Windgrove Peace Garden, Tasmania (Australia). Created by Tasmanian sculptor/naturalist Peter Adams.

September 9, 2001 - Peace Plaza, Tenafly, New Jersey (USA). "Dedicated to world peace just two days before 9/11. Also dedicated to the memory of former Borough Administrator Robert Miller & his wife Elizabeth, both killed in the TWA Flight 800 crash off Long Island in July 1996. Mayor Ann Moscovitz designed the blue granite mural that adorns the plaza & created the quote expressing hope for world peace. At the dedication, which was attended by borough residents, officials & two UN representatives, the ambassador of Hungary warned that America was not immune to terrorism, Moscovitz recalled. 'He said, "You don't realize how you are viewed by the world. The US is going to be the object of terror." Two days later, we were,' Moscovitz said. Four people from Tenafly were killed in the attack on the World Trade Center. A plaque was erected to commemorate their lives & the plaza became, in effect, a combined TWA Flight 800/September 11 Memorial. In the ensuing days, people came from the surrounding area to the plaza with candles. 'They wanted someone to go to, like a support group. So a lot of them came spontaneously to our plaza to share their grief,' Moscovitz said."

September 6, 2001 - Ecliptic Park, Rosa Parks Circle, Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA). Designed by Maya Lin. Intended to depict water as solid, liquid & vapor. "The heart of [the park] is a skating rink that converts into an amphitheater in the warmer months & is lit by tiny fiber-optic lights, which are embedded in its surface & laid out in a pattern representing a constellation of stars as of January 1, 2000." "Lin's first project incorporating art & architecture in one site. The rings create an optical illusion in which their slight slope also makes the surface of the rink appear to tilt with the earth's curvature." The park also contains a steaming "Water Table Fountain" [lower image], two small service buildings in steel & concrete, a pair of fountains & short, wandering paths through landscaped mounds of grass that rise and fall in waves about three feet high. /// Grand Rapid's famour LibDub video was made in & around the park in May 2011.

October 20, 2001 - Gateway to Freedom, Hart Plaza, Detroit, Michigan (USA). Depicts a group of slaves on US soil looking towards Canada and freedom. Detroit was on the central route to freedom, the "underground railroad." Sculpted by Ed Dwight. A collaboration of "Detroit 300" & the International Underground Railroad Monument Collaborative.

October 20, 2001 - Tower of Freedom, 100 Pitt Street East, Windsor, Ontario (Canada). "Faces the Gateway to Freedom monument across the Detroit River and together are called the International Memorial to the Underground Railroad. A twenty-two foot high tower with a bronze Flame of Freedom created by Denver based sculptor Ed Dwight. The monument honours the harrowing journey made by thousands in search of freedom and pays tribute to Ontario’s role in the Underground Railroad."

November 9, 2001 - Holocaust Maenmal der Kinder / Children's Holocaust Memorial, Whitwell (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, and 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."

November 11, 2001 - Ring of Peace, First United Methodist Church, Beech & 2nd Streets, Casper, Wyoming (USA). By Chris Navarro. "You may remember that Matthew Shepherd, a young gay man, was murdered by homophobes in Laramie, Wyoming, in the late 1990s. There's nothing in Laramie to commemorate him, but if you visit the website his parents created, they recommend you see a statue called the Ring of Peace in Casper, that's dedicated first to Matthew, and also to the victims of the Columbine shootings [and 9/11]... a nice idea, but it's just sad how run down and crappy it looks. It was possible for me to take a nice picture of it, but only if I was very careful to crop out almost all the surroundings."

December 5, 2001 - Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice (IPJ), University of San Diego, San Diego, California (USA). Entry #119 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).