Pinwheels for Peace

Pinwheels for Peace (http://www.pinwheelsforpeace.com/) is an art installation project started in 2005 by two Florida art teachers, Ann Ayers and Ellen McMillan, as a way for students to express their feelings about what’s going on in the world and in their lives. The project was quickly embraced by their students and the entire school community and by millions of art teachers, teachers, parents, children and adults who desire peace in our world. In 2007, over 1.2 million pinwheels were spinning in over 3,000 locations around the world!

For our first project of the year, all middle school art students are creating pinwheels for the project. On one side, students will write their thoughts about peace / tolerance/ living in harmony with others, and on the other, they will draw to visually express their feelings. They will assemble these pinwheels and on International Day of Peace, Sept. 21, 2008, we will "plant" their pinwheels outside as a public statement and art exhibit/installation. The spinning of the pinwheels in the wind will spread thoughts and feelings about peace throughout the country, the world! (look for our pinwheels in front of the middle school on Monday, Sept. 22, since International Day of Peace falls on a Sunday this year).