By Jane Stoever
A gift to Kansas City and to PeaceWorks KC. That’s what 70+ artists are giving.
How so? Well, they dream up their art and create it. They package it up, bring it to our fair, and show it to all comers.
We oblige. We decorate our homes with their splashes of beauty. We wear their scarves and rings, we give their paintings and pots as presents. An art circle. And the artists share their proceeds with PeaceWorks. They keep us going. Thanks, artists!
And patrons, come join our fair! We gather Saturday, Sept. 23, 10am-6pm, and Sunday, Sept. 24, 10am-5pm, at Theis Park, where Cleaver Blvd. meets Oak St. in KCMO.
The artists’ applications reveal a cross-section of KC. Some of our creative geniuses cope with physical or behavioral challenges. Some belong to the GLBTQIA community. Some are Black, Latinx, Asian, Caucasian, Jewish. Some have been part of our fair many years; some are new. A beautiful mix!
The artists sustain PeaceWorks’ quest for a nuclear-weapon-free world, starting with trying to stop production of nuclear weapons at our local nuke-parts plant, the National Security Campus.
This year’s art event is our 32nd celebration of the intersection of peace and art. PeaceWorks Vice Chair Ann Suellentrop reflects, ““Through the free expression of the inner life and spirit of the artist, we have access to others’ stories, emotions, hopes, and dreams, even their unconscious thoughts. ‘The world will be saved by beauty,’ says Dostoevsky’s Prince Myshkin in The Idiot. Hate, fear, and violence distort our thoughts and actions. Art reveals our deepest selves.” Understanding others leads to loving them, says Suellentrop. “Solidarity, mutual aid, and love in action are necessary to prevent violence from even entering our thoughts.”
The artwork displayed here is by a few of our 70+ artists. Come see the beauty!
—Jane Stoever serves on the PeaceWorks KC Communications Team. © 2023, Jane Stoever, Ann Suellentrop, Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 International License
