In 2020, the Peace Studio in Evanston launched the 100 Offerings of Peace Project.  The project involved artists from around the world creating original works that reflect what peace means to them.  The Peace Studio then "released"n these offerings as a steady stream of online content from July 1 through November 1, 2020 through their social media outlets as a means to share these messages of peace with the world.

 

The Peace Studio's mission coincides with the YKNA’s mission to use the artistic process to inspire people to consider the everyday actions that they can take to be agents of positive change, thus a collaboration was born.   Local artist Indira Johnson, artist and director at Kids Create Change Angela Lyonsmith, Mariana Bojorquez with the Evanston Public Library, and Collette Allen with Family Focus coordinated a community-wide project to engage Evanstonians in the 100 Offerings of Peace Project.  

 

The project involved an invitation to people throughout the community to write of messages of peace onto large leaves, assembling the leaves into "offerings" and floating them down the North Channel towards the lake.  This peace offering is rooted in the cultural tradition of coastal societies where a variety of offerings from floating lights to leaves and flowers are sent out into the rivers and seas. These offerings are a ritual of hope and restoration and a prayer for peace.