Use 17 Objects To Create Peace

Poet-artist jai is encouraging creative adults and families to create peace
(personal peace, world peace, family peace, etc.) as part of the Everyday Art project created by Cheryl Capezzuti with funding from the Sprout Foundation.

Every week beginning March 17, a different artist, poet, musician, photographer, etc. will post an art assignment on Capezzuti¹s Web site, www.everydayart.org.  Anyone interested can do the assignment. Participants’ work will then be exhibited online and may be part of upcoming exhibitions around town.  Those who complete all the assignments are eligible for prizes.
       
jai was chosen as one of 14 artists to be part of the first round of Everyday Art.  jai’s "Create Peace" project will be featured on www.everydayart.org during the week of April 26.  Anyone interested can also meet Jai and Capezzutti that week at a Meet-the-Artist coffee hour, 4-6 pm, April 27 at Tazzo D'oro, a coffee shop in Highland Park.

Here’s a preview of jai’s Everyday Art assignment:

Use 17 objects to create peace (personal peace, world peace, family peace,). To start, think about a time when you felt peaceful.  What were you doing?  Wearing?  Where were you?  Who was with you? Keeping that feeling in mind, gather 17 objects: maybe papers, shells, fabrics, wood, ribbons, personal things that are meaningful, things from nature, pictures from magazines, whatever. Thinking peace, pick up one of your objects and attach it to paper, canvas, or a wall.  Add another object, then another.  Work spontaneously. Trust yourself.  If you’re unsure what to do next, think back to your scene of peace.  Keep going until you feel finished.  (If you haven’t used all 17, that’s okay.) If you want, add words (poetry or prose), and use paint or felt-tip pens to enhance what you¹ve done.  Title your work.  Enjoy your vision of peace.
       
Why 17 objects?  Says jai, "The usual numbers often don’t lead to peace so we need to try something new.  I’m also celebrating the work of some friends, Mary Beth Steisslinger and Maritza Mosquera.  They led a group of artist-activists in creating an innovative new peace symbol over a period of 17 months."

jai will also be performing and presenting workshops on poemART (her unique blend of poetry and abstract art) at libraries throughout Allegheny County in April under a grant she received from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and ProArts. jai is also a professional writer who writes for peace.

More information about jai is at her Web site: www.poem-of-the-month.com.

- jai

Richard Krepski started by thinking about nature as his most peaceful place.
He also finds peace through music and reading so he picked record albums and
books that had nature connections as the "canvas" for his work.  He added
rocks and shells, then decided he couldn't leave out gardening and hamsters
since he also finds great peace with both.  He finished with a meditation
candle that he first used in a silent vigil protesting the Iraq War.

Says jai, "While I expected people to create pieces that could be hung
on a wall, Richard created a horizontal peace that sits on his table. One of
the things I love about art is that there are no rules."