From dawn to dusk on April 20th, a young Carolina Silverbell tree in front of the Charles Patterson Van Pelt Library was transformed into an interactive art installation focused on global peace, harmony, and reflection. Created by conceptual artist Yoko Ono, the first Wish Tree for Peace installation was in 1996, and has been installed throughout the years in cities around the world, from San Francisco to Sydney, Oslo to London. The message is part of the artist’s longstanding vision for world peace, and each installation allows a public airing of the private wishes for peace and unity on display.
A wish-writing station accompanied the installation, with tags and pens and a message from the artist with simple instructions:
“Make a wish.
Write it down on a piece of paper.
Fold it and tie it around a branch of a wish tree.
Ask your friend to do the same.
Keep wishing.
Until the branches are covered with wishes.”
The installation allowed anyone walking past on Locust Walk an opportunity to reflect on the global community, and get in touch with their ideas about what peace and around the world means to them. The wishes tied to the branches were both introspective and universal.
The placement of the installation on College Green was deliberate. Yoko Ono’s intention for the Wish Tree for Peace is to unite people and ideas, and the schools and students involved in its installation represent the various disciplines it invokes: art history, creative writing, environmental studies, and health and societies. With finals ahead and springtime here, the young flowering tree gave students an opportunity to pause, reflect, and think about the world at large, and make a wish for its future.
