Crane Display for World Peace Day Transforms Lobby

Hartford Seminary dedicated a new art installation in its three-story lobby on Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. The 1,ooo-orgami-crane display designed by Hartford artist Ann Cubberly marks World Peace Day and provides a visual representation of the Seminary’s mission.

The Rev. Dr. Jonathan Lee, the Seminary’s Director of Institutional Advancement, said World Peace Day is an opportunity for “citizens to reflect on the need for peace and to recommit themselves to peace.” In the Japanese tradition, the Seminary has been folding origami cranes to acknowledge World Peace Day with a wish for peace. Most of the cranes were made by students, faculty and staff, but some came from friends of the Seminary and others from as far away as Indiana from people who heard about the project online.

The colorful display of cranes will “tell the world and anyone who happens to walk into this space that we are committed to peace,” Dr. Lee said. “The crane project is an opportunity for all of us to tell the story [of the Seminary] in a creative and highly visible way.”

During the dedication ceremony, three members of the Seminary’s faculty — Prof. Mahmoud Ayoub, Prof. Steven Blackburn, and Prof. Yehezkel Landau — spoke about the symbolism of birds in Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions.  Prof. Miriam Therese Winter then gave a blessing and asked everyone present to send up a blessing for peace each time they pass the crane display.