The Art for Peace Project has been completed and is now hanging in the lobby of SEK Preparatory School in Boca Raton, Florida.  The project is one that took almost a year from the initial idea to the finished product.  The sharing of a common goal, themed towards Peace through Art, by students around the world created a genuine sense of global community for both the students and their teachers.
 
The Quilt will now begin its’ 'around the world journey' as the completed project is shared by all of the schools that participated in its creation.  SEK Preparatory School has designated May as its Month of Peace, and the Boca students will set the quilt on its way on the 1st of that month, one year after the inception of the project.
 
Thank you to all of those students and teachers who shared in our vision and who recognized the human need to speak through creativity.  We hope that the Peace Quilt will be enjoyed by children around the world, and look forward to collaborating with even more schools on a further Art for Peace Project.

SEK Preparatory International School in Boca Raton, Florida, feels the need to address the growing violence in our world in a way that will engage the students’ good will, curiosity and creative energies.

To that end, we have decided to highlight original student art, developed around the theme of ‘Peace”, as a means of integrating peace within our school culture. During our conversations about the project, it soon became apparent that we should engage other schools in this activity. A strong feeling was voiced that an international aspect would provide an enriched context for the project.
   
With those goals in mind (an annual themed art project shared wih students and schools around the world), the Senior Management Team of SEK Preparatory International School asks that our fellow members of the International Schools Association consider joining us in developing an annual Art for Peace Project as a means of recognizing the goal of World Peace.

Our vision is that one piece of original student artwork from each school be selected by that school as representative of their collective efforts for peace for that year. We hope that the various presentations will be able to be displayed here in Boca Raton, with a possibility that the entire collection then travel to all participating ISA schools.

This year our School has designated May as a Month for Peace; during the month we will have students creating and submitting hand-decorated cotton fabric squares (16” x 16”) that reflect their feelings re: peace. We hope to make a quilt from these squares. If enough other schools participate, we could make an international quilt using one of our squares along with all of the international submissions. It would be meaningful if the quilt were then shipped to each participating school over the next year as a means of recognizing the project and promoting peace as a common goal.

Suggestions for the particulars of each year’s submissions can be made over the next few months. These could range from photography to collage to 3-D; our Art Director is available to coordinate this project. A final plan for the project will be sent to each participating ISA School via email. Artwork for the Peace Quilt should be delivered to our school in Florida by June 30, 2004.

We are hopeful that many of the ISA Schools will find this project to be worthwhile. Please let us know (via This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) if your school would like to participate in this project.