Murphy School Pupils Make Art for Peace

By Tammy Hudson

Pinwheels for Peace, according to the website, is an art installation project started in 2005 by two art teachers, Ann Ayers and Ellen McMillan, of Coconut Creek, FL, as a way for students to express their feelings about what is going on in the world and in their lives.

Students write their thoughts about about war and peace, living in the world in harmony, their feelings about tolerance, and put their art on the other, and then make the paper into a pinwheel.

The writing can be poetry, prose, haiku, or an essay, the website explains.  

The number of pinwheels had grown from 500,000 in 2005 to 3.5 million in 2010.

People in more than 3,500 locations worldwide participated last year. This is a non-political project.

At the Dr. Charles E. Murphy School, Tammy Hudson's students discussed what peace means to them and how they can show peace at school, home, and our community.

Each student created a pinwheel and on International Day of Peace, Sept. 21. Then the pinwheels were "planted" in the shape of a peace sign in front of the school and in baskets inside the art room to communicate their belief in peace.

It is a great way for students to learn the importance of Art as a form of communication and to be part of a worldwide project.

Please add your feelings and thoughts about peace and harmony, in the comment box at the end of this story.