Mantua – Imagine millions of pinwheels spinning in the wind. Pinwheels around the world in Great Britain, South America, the Middle East, and here in Mantua, Ohio. Yes, on Friday, September 20th, in honor of the International Day of Peace, Crestwood students will take part in an international art and literacy project called “Pinwheels for Peace.” On Friday, students will plant hand-made pinwheels with messages of peace at Crestwood Intermediate & Primary Schools as an art installation and public statement of peace.
Pinwheels for Peace is an art installation project started eight years ago by two art teachers in Florida as a way for students to express their feelings about what was happening in their lives, and in the world around them. In the first year of the project, groups in over 1,325 locations around the world were spinning nearly 500,000 pinwheels on the International Day of Peace, September 21st. Last year, over four million pinwheels were spinning in over 3,500 locations, including the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, the Middle East, Africa and South America.
Locally, School Counselor Gary Traveny coordinated the project. He explained, “This project is non-political – peace doesn’t necessarily have to be associated with the conflict of war, it can be related to violence or intolerance in our daily lives.” Crestwood students have created pinwheels of all shapes and sizes. On one side of each piece, students wrote their thoughts on war, peace, tolerance, and living in harmony; on the other side, they drew, painted, or collaged to visually express their feelings.
Stop by the campus of Crestwood Primary and Intermediate Schools to experience the whirled peace of student-crafted pinwheels spinning for peace in the winds of change.
