In times of war, crisis and chaos artists of all types get busy. Conflict stirs the creative juices, and in doing can be a link between disparate factions. Connections are made, perspectives may be better understood and art survives.
Lauri Bunting, a yoga teacher and board member of the Sun Valley Film Festival, with encouragement from festival director Mary Gervase, considered how she could emphasize the International Day of Peace, which coincides with the last day of the film festival in September.
"I wanted to tie that in," she said. "First, I thought we could have the kids in our community write about peace and then I thought, 'why not get kids from all over to participate.'"
Her concept flowered into being as Poems for Peace, a cross-cultural poetry exchange between children in this community and children around the world. The mission is to "create a means for children to express who they are and connect with others on the same level," she said. "By transcending racial, religious, socioeconomic, physical and intellectual barriers, a common thread is revealed thereby weaving together a strong and colorful fabric of peace."
Through networking with friends and acquaintances around the world, response has come in from many places, including Jamaica, India, Israel, Nepal, Tibet, Tanzania, Bangladesh, The Philippines, England, and across U.S.
The poetry, broadly defined, is any "written expression, letter, prayer, story, poem or artwork that conveys a heart-felt message, a personal truth," Bunting said.
In local schools the project was already being bandied about before summer vacation.
"Summer is non-structured but I'm receiving poems," Bunting said. "They can be emailed to p4p@cox.net, or sent to Poems for Peace, Box 6567, Ketchum, ID 83340."
Bunting and a few other valley residents will introduce the project to AIDS-orphans in Tanzania with Hailey resident Theresa Grant's non-profit Make A Difference.
"I'll be bringing poems from here, working with the kids, teaching yoga to staff and kids and doing poems for peace," Bunting said.
Directed by professional jazz singer Tyia Wilson, the Wood River Community Peace Choir will begin practices from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, July 12, at the YMCA. All kids in grades kindergarten through 12th are welcome. Register by emailing Wilson at tyiamber@yahoo.com or call Bunting at 788-9120.
"Tyia's love for music is contagious and she's inviting all children to celebrate their spirits through song," Bunting said. "In addition to performing a wide array of popular songs, the choir will sing their poems, a wonderful way for their messages to be heard."
On Monday, July 14, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Bunting will offer a special class, called Yoga for a Cause: Salutations to AIDS Orphans. All ages and abilities are welcome. Donations will go to AIDS Orphans of Himo, Tanzania. Donations are tax deductible through Sunshine Matrix, the umbrella organization Bunting established for all these products and concepts. The organization's tag line is "Brightening the world through awareness, compassion and action."
The Sun Valley Center for the Arts is incorporating Poems for Peace in its summer camp, as is the Environmental Resource Center in its Eco-camp.
On Sept. 21, on International Day of Peace, poems will be read throughout the day, from local children and from around the world at the film venues of the Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival. A public exhibition will follow. Bunting is also planning to create a book about the project with the proceeds benefiting youth literacy.
"It's totally a labor of love," Bunting said. "Everyday I get something that touches my heart in the most amazing way. It's got its own energy."
Tag, you're it
Peace Tags, an innovative jewelry line founded by Fredda Golden, will be showcased at Barry Peterson Jewelry at a trunk show Friday, July 10. Featured quotes, on the dog tag like sterling silver, are by such celebrated peace activists as Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha, the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesus, Walt Whitman and others. Proceeds from the trunk sales of Peace Tags will go to Friends of Fisher House Puget Sound for military families undergoing extended medical treatment and therapy.
Lauri Bunting Photo by Dana DuGan
