What does peace mean to you? That was the question Park Rapids Community Education asked for their latest art effort. The various answers they got were on display last night at Calvary Lutheran Church as the Peace By Piece Project.

“Lots of peace signs, lots of flowers and hearts and people drew pictures of biking on the nature trails or sitting in the boats. Sunsets, flower gardens,” says Jody Ziemann, collaborator for the Peace by Piece project.

To celebrate Peace by Piece’s unveiling, community education recruited Minnesota musician Peter Mayer. All of his songs are original and have a nice quality that paired well with the art.

Mayer says, “I like it if people just leave feeling happy to be alive. I think that it’s easy with our various struggles in life to get down about our own lives and what’s going on in them, and I like to try and cultivate a sense of just excitement to be here.”

More than one hundred tiles were made for the Peace by Piece project. They were created by people of all ages. The idea for the project came in late 2018, but it really started going earlier this year.

“We had the first art pieces made in March. All of the middle school students got to do it in one morning and then we moved to the grade school the next week, and then from there we went out to the community at large and lots of community members in different organizations, different sites we brought the art materials there and everybody contributed,” says Ziemann.

The art towers were displayed at Calvary Lutheran Church for one night only. Next, they’ll be sent to various businesses around the Park Rapids community before moving to Park Rapids High School in the fall. Community Education believes the more people who see it, the better.

Ziemann says, “I think peace is something that we all yearn for and strive for, and so it’s maybe just a pause in the busy day to do something peaceful. To see other people’s ideas of peace and be reminded to just be more aware.”

By — Shirelle Moore