Cranes for Peace
Gisela Towner
Cleveland, OH
12"h x 12"w

 

Artist statement: My piece is a tribute to Sadako Sasaki and the World Peace Project for Children, which promotes peace education for children based on Sadako's story. Sadako was a baby in Hiroshima when the atom bomb was dropped. She later died of leukemia, an after effect of the bomb. While she was ill, Sadako's friend told her of an old Japanese legend which said that anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes would be granted a wish. She worked on the paper cranes and completed over 1000 before dying on October 25, 1955 at the age of twelve. There is a statue of Sadako in Hiroshima and one in Seattle, Washington. Children all over the world make paper cranes for peace and send them to be placed at the statues. I believe that there is nothing more important than teaching Peace to the children of the world.