Let's celebrate again!

Just a brief news flash here:

There is an article about the Woven Voices project in a local paper.

And the BIG news is that I will be awarded the 2009 Sarah Farmer Peace Award on August, 22, 2009. The Sarah Farmer Peace Award is presented annually by the Baha’i
Community of the Greater Seacoast Region to recognize the
contributions of area individuals and groups who take effective local action to promote world peace and understanding among nations and members of the human family.

The award is named after Sarah Jane Farmer, a turn-of-the century peace heroine who was born in Dover, N.H., in 1847. She founded the Green Acre Conferences in Eliot where the first peace flag in the world was hoisted in 1894, and where a peace flag has been flown every year since then.

The Aug. 22nd event marks the fifth Sarah Farmer Peace Award. This year the celebration will be held on Saturday, August 22nd, 7:30pm, at Reimer Hall at Green Acre Baha'i School in Eliot, with the public warmly invited. There will be a display of some of my work in the hall, and slides of my work as part of the program.

More information, including a flyer and press release, will be out soon. If you are local, or in the area, please come celebrate!!

Thanks to all for your support.
Peace, Sarah

Once again

Once again , the simple power of this project has lifted my heart. On June 11th, 2009 I showed up at Market Sq. Portsmouth to read over 250 messages. Like most of the past month it was a grey drizzly day. My dear son Robin came to shoot a short video.

By 12:45, the rain really settled in. So we packed up the flags and other stuff. I had almost completed reading all the messages that I collected to date. Then, to my surprise in that day's mail delivery....about 40 new messages from a young woman in Everett, Washington. Thanks Gabriele!!

And then an invitation to send flags along with a group called Slum Doctor. Slum Doctor Programme is a grassroots organization of concerned individuals that began in 2000 as a small voice, a cry for help and hope, for the 22 million Africans who live mostly in silence with AIDS. Early next week, I will get a set of flags out for delivery to Omobogo Girls' Academy in Kenya.

Photos of installed prayer flags arrive now and then too. Here are two images~ a rug hookers group from Corea, in Down East ME and three lovely German women holding the prayer flags in front of the cathedral in Paderborn, Germany (the home town of my artist friend Brigitte). Thanks to all !!

Simple gestures made bold by the energy and effort of many.
Namaste ~
Sarah

Ripple Effect

Joy for June! Just when I think that the "waters" of the Woven Voices project are calming down, a new wave washes to shore.

This past week I received images from Africa. Ian was a student at Bowdoin College in Maine when he sent me dozens of messages of hope and peace from his fellow students. Now he is a Peace Corps volunteer in Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa. The photos here taken were taken on Muslim New Years in front of his school, Suduwol Upper Basic School. I sent these flags to him in the fall/2008 with the hope of receiving a photo someday. I learned from Ian's mother that it takes him 7 hours in a bus with many river/ferry crossings to get to Banjul where he has slow Internet access!

Here's what Ian says: "Thanks for the flags. They are standing up well to the African sun and wind, and the rains will be coming soon. The students are the 7th and 8th graders in my school who are in the Library Club."

Heartfelt thanks to Ian for going the extra miles to get these images to me! I am VERY grateful.

I also have images of the prayer flags in Germany which I will post soon. The ripple effect of the Woven Voices project is still in motion!

Speaking of continuity, I will be back in Market Square, Portsmouth, NH on Thursday June 11th, at noon. I have about 100 messages to read which should take about 45 minutes. I hope you will join me to read and honor these words of peace and hope gathered from as far as Nepal and as close as home.

As always, continue to send me messages and please consider coming to my studio to weave prayer flags (York is a lovely destination in the summer!).

Namaste, Sarah

Spring is busting out!~

Happy Spring to all~

I am knee deep in projects here in the studio. I have weavers coming about every week to help weave prayer flags, I have two commissions as well as a project for a local historical house. I am an artist in residence at Milford Elementary School in NH.

The Macomber Looms blog has taken off, and I am fielding emails from all over the US to help weavers with their Macomber equipment. Then there are the gardens. The peas, spinach and lettuce are planted. The rhubarb has been harvested once and the flower beds are almost all mulched. Phew!

All of this is to say, Spring is a busy time here in Maine! I have decided to postpone the May message reading that I had planned for May 11th in Market Square. Hopefully June will offer a better window of opportunity.

The top photo here is of an Italian book group enjoying their prayer flags. The lower photos are from an artist in residence project I did with a school in MA. The students are weaving a giant globe, that has now been installed in the school. This project feels very aligned with Woven Voices project. It was a community wide art project that was driven by a vision of unity, integrity and cooperation.

Please keep in touch. Messages and weavers always welcome!
Sarah

Two hundred prayer flags!

Last week, my friend Mary came over and wove prayer flags. She finished the warp on one of the floor looms and so we removed the woven flags. Lo and behold, after a quick tally, I realized that during the last year, we have woven over two hundred prayer flags.

Here is a photo of Mary in my studio door, sun shining on these beautiful flags. I have already sent bunches of them out the door. Some have gone to a school in NH, some to a soldier/artist traveling to Morocco, some to folks in California, N. Carolina, New York and New Hampshire. I hope to receive photos of these flags as they are installed out in the world.

Spring has finally come to Maine. My daffodils are in full bloom, the buds are plump on the lilacs and the peas are planted. There is promise of bounty in this season. I wish the same for all.

Peace, Sarah
P.S. Messages and weavers always welcome.

Prayer Flags and true friends in the rain !

Yesterday, April 11th, I showed up in Market Square at 2PM to read messages and hang a set of hand woven prayer flags. And a few dear stalwart friends even showed up to support this project. The temperature was about 39 degrees, there was a steady rain and a slight breeze. It was cold!

We hung the two dozen prayer flags from the trees and lamp posts and read over 200 messages. And in spite pf the weather, several passers-by stopped to talk to us about the project.

My friend Jayne, a first grade teacher, shared her class paper weaving which we briefly displayed on this park bench.

May 11th, Monday, at noon, I plan to return to Market Square to read more messages, hopefully under blue skies. Please continue to send messages and join me to weave here in my York studio, all are welcome!

Namaste, Sarah

Woven Voices Prayer Flags in Nepal

I couldn't wait to share these wonderful photos of the Woven Voices Prayer Flags in Nepal. My friend Candy traveled there this winter to do service with remote village schools. I sent her with four flags to pass out. As you can see these flags traveled around before they were installed at the school. At the mountain temple, the resident monk accepted the flags, but mentioned that it was not an auspicious time to hang them.

I am grateful for these friends who took the effort to carrying this project to a new height!

Please join me Saturday April 11th, Market Square, Portsmouth, NH at 2PM to read and listen to over 450 new messages of peace and hope, including some from Nepal. The studio is open for weavers to help with prayer flags, and messages are always welcome.

Namaste, Sarah