Peace Initiative -  Volunteer  - Creative Learning Programs - World Peace Residency - Southern Cross Peace Artwork - Norway Peace Artworks - USA Starr Earthwork 2002 - Albania -  Michigan Millenium Project - Articles and Publications - Links
Starr Earthwork 2002                       Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

News Coverage of Starr Earthwork

"Organizers hope to draw thousands to artistic project"

Wednesday, September 18, 2002

By Brian Wheeler
Staff Writer

It started as farmland and will again be harvested next year. In between, 37 acres in Albion might soon stand as a monument to peace.

In less than two weeks, Starr Commonwealth will finish transforming the field into a giant artistic project, a sprawling display of designs and banners that will draw thousands of visitors, organizers hope.

The ambitious goal of Starr Earthwork 2002 is to promote world peace -- albeit with the help of a few friends. Through an effort dubbed the World Peace Art Initiatives, artists in China already have created sculptures, and musicians performed a piece in Norway, all to promote peace. The effort also boasts representatives from Australia and Italy.

Nobel Schuler, Starr Commonwealth's fine arts director, said that while the creation of the project just south of Exit 119 off I-94 is almost done, it's hopefully the start of a broader initiative.

"It's the home stretch of a much larger project whose focus is international," Schuler said.

The idea that led to the Starr Earthwork was born two years ago thanks to Lou Rizzolo, an art professor at Western Michigan University. That October, representatives from the five participating countries met at Starr Commonwealth's Albion campus.

It's only coincidence that the art project will debut Sept. 29, little more than a year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but Rizzolo said those calamities provided an extra spark to the effort -- and underscored its importance.

"What happened, of course, with 9/11 is that we realized we were on the right track," Rizzolo said.

Today, Rizzolo's vision still needs some work, but it's easy to see its progress while driving south on Starr Commonwealth Road. Giant star shapes and circles have been carved out of the waist-high rye grass.

Plans are in the works for a celebration from 3:30 to 11 p.m. Oct. 5 that will feature aerial sculptures, bagpipers, a troupe of Native American dancers and singers, and hot-air balloons.

More than 100 motorcyclists will ring the central field of the display, creating a halo with their headlights while college students light 2,000 luminaries.

Adding to the spectacle will be hundreds of "peace banners" created by students from throughout the region, displayed in a tapestry reminiscent of the AIDS quilt. Some of the banners, created from the building material Tyvek, were decorated by an Albion octogenarian, Schuler said, who enthusiastically jumped into the project.

So, is a little world peace too much to ask for? Schuler and Rizzolo hope not.

"Peace starts in one sense on an individual level. Collectively, we hope we can affect many people," Schuler said. "There's something about the arts that can affect people in profound ways."

Rizzolo said the effort has been a success already, bringing people together to make banners. And they'll come together in other ways, gathering around campfires in the field on Oct. 5 and singing a song of peace.

"The opportunity to watch people who seemingly have nothing in common work together is what makes our country great," Rizzolo said. "The arts really bring people together in a different way."

-- Reach reporter Brian Wheeler at 768-4928 or bwheeler@citpat.com.

News Coverage of Starr Earthwork