Thursday, October 3, 2002
Peace Initiative opens Saturday
By The Enquirer
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ALBION -- Starr Earthwork 2002, A World Peace Art Initiative, will be open Saturday, with a variety of events throughout the day and evening.
The idea was developed in 2000, when representatives from the Australian state of Tasmania, China, Norway, Italy and the United States met at Starr Commonwealth in Albion to discuss creating large scale art in each of those countries.
The 37-acre presentation plowed into a field off I-94 was designed to promote world peace. The U.S. presentation is along Starr Commonwealth Road, or exit 119 from I-94.
Organizers are advising participants to bring lawn chairs, blankets, bug spray and flashlights. Alcohol and smoking are prohibited at Starr Commonwealth and the Earthwork site.
The event includes the following activities:
Musical performance: Down the Line, a Chicago acoustic rock and soul band, will play from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. and Men of Grace, a gospel-blues vocal harmony group, will follow from 5 to 6 p.m.
Hot-air balloon and aerial sculpture: 5 p.m.
People designs: School-age children will gather in the moon circles and form designs with their bodies at 6 p.m. Their designs will be documented at 6:20 p.m. from the air.
Music and dance: Paul and Kristin Hartsaw will perform music composed for the World Peace Art Initiative at 6:15 p.m. Dance segments will be performed by Albion College Dancers.
Cyclists: A parade of motorcycles will ride within the inner circle at 7:15 p.m.
Opening remarks: Phil Parker and the Kalamazoo Bag Pipers will play a song medley at 7:30 p.m.
Musical presentation: Albion College's Briton Singers and area youth choral groups will perform at 7:45 p.m.
Luminaries: John Warren and the White Thunder singers will perform at 8:30 p.m. as 2,000 luminary lights are lit by area college students around three embracing figures in the center of the circle.
Lighting ceremony and public singing: Organizers will light 24 communal campfires beginning at 8:30 p.m. Albion College's Briton Singers will sing "Song of Peace" in 24 languages. Those attending will stand and join hands around the center circle and sing the "Song of Peace."
Closing: The Bag Pipers will play a farewell song about 9:15 p.m. as the cyclists leave the site.
Communal campfires: The public can stay at the campfires until they are extinguished at 11 p.m.
JOHN GRAP/THE ENQUIRER
Three of the banners made by area students lie in the foreground of a cutout cornfield of the Starr Earthwork 2002, A World Peace Art Initiative.
Student artwork is part of Starr Earthwork 2002, A World
Peace Art Initiative.
Nobel Schuler, co-facilitator for the Starr Earthwork
2002, A World Peace Art Initiative, puts some finishing touches to part of
the project Thursday.