1000 Peace Cranes For Nashua (2021)
In the spring of 2021, the Covid 19 pandemic continued into its second year, and many people were still living in isolation. I wanted to create something that would help people feel connected, after an incredibly dark and stressful winter. 1000 Peace Cranes For Nashua is a community art project that I created with the Nashua International Sculpture Symposium, for children and families to complete individually at home, and then return to be displayed as a collective artistic display of community and hope.
The project was inspired by a trip I had taken 15 years prior, to Hiroshima Japan. The ancient tradition of folding and displaying SENBAZURU (which translates to 1000 CRANES in Japanese) are often given to a person who is very ill, to wish for healing and recovery. Cranes are also seen as a symbol of peace, so senbazuru are often collected and hung in places where calls for world peace are most relevant. There is a children’s book, based on the true story of a young girl, named SADAKO SASAKI, who developed leukemia 10 years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The Children's Peace Monument, located in Hiroshima, Japan is dedicated to her, and groups of children from all over the world send their 1000 cranes to be hung in her honor every year. It is a beautiful and powerful place, and I wanted to share that story with people in my city.
With help from volunteers, I made and distributed over 500, safely packaged paper origami kits, with instructions and educational resources included. Dan Young at Access Nashua TV, along with Sid Ceasar, a local photographer and puppeteer, helped me create a fun origami-folding video tutorial, which aired on local tv, and was available for streaming on youtube. The positive response to this project was overwhelming, and people of all ages participated, with almost 2000 origami paper cranes being returned for display. NISS board members helped string them together, resulting in 1000 colorful cranes hanging from a beautiful paper mache branch in the atrium of St Joseph Hospital, all summer long.
What started as a small, socially distanced activity, turned into an impressive and uplifting piece of community art, created by hundreds of enthusiastic and diverse hands. The 1000 Peace Cranes For Nashua branch is currently being refurbished and awaits to be installed in its forever home in downtown Nashua, where it will serve as a reminder of artistic unity overcoming hardship.
Logo by Sid Ceasar
Photo by Sid Ceasar
KidsWalk Mini Art-Kit Scavenger Hunts (2020, 2021)
In 2019, I helped develop KIDSWALK, the child-centered portion of CityArts Nashua’s beloved ArtWalk celebration. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, CityArts transformed Artwalk into ArtWeek, a week-long, televised event, but I still wanted to create an engaging art program that got kids off of screens. I was inspired by an early pandemic instagram post that read, “This is the time to use the nice art supplies”. Being aware that not all families were able to access or prioritize art supplies at that time, I wanted to help make it a bit easier to promote creativity, in a fun and inviting way.
So, in fall 2020, I developed the KidsWalk Mini Art-Kit Scavenger Hunt project. For the past two years, during Artweek, I have designed and put together 50 self-contained mini art-kits, in small mint-style tins. These tins are put in weather-proof packaging and hidden throughout the city, in a week-long “Easter egg hunt-style” game of art hide and seek.
Each Mini Art-Kit contains instructions, educational resources and enough art supplies to create your own art project at home. Kits vary from handmade mini-watercolor field sketchbooks, to mini stuffed animal sewing kits, to mini clay sculpture kits, etc. Its all in the kit, and its so much fun!
Clues are given via social media, and it becomes a race to see who can snag a coveted KidsWalk Mini-Art Kit, before they are gone. Children that find the kits are encouraged to share what they create, inspiring other young artists to participate, and forming a sense of community, despite the need for social distance.
Promotional Flyer for 2021 event
Mini Watercolor Sketchbook kits, ready to be packed up and hidden