me arts ed

York artist educator collects messages of hope from around the world

A couple of years ago I met visual artist, educator and enthusiastic warm human being Sarah Haskell at an early arts educator conference. This past fall we reconnected and I learned about her blog and the creative work she is doing. I follow her “travels” through her blog “Woven Voices” and have posted some of her information on the meartsed blog professional development page. I want you to know more about Sarah…

People from around the world send Sarah messages and she reads them in public spaces for others to hear. Sarah invites people to send “The positive messages of hope and renewal, dreams, wishes or prayers.” They send messages on any size paper, on many colors, different weights, some arrive on cloth strips or ribbons. Sarah takes each message, reads them and weaves them into prayer flags and sends them back to the people.

“Woven Voices” was launched in December of 2007 but Sarah didn’t start reading them in public until June 2008. Sarah decided that in order to honor each peson that their messages had to have a voice. At her first reading she read 450 messages and continues once a month reading about 250 in Market Square in Portsmouth, NH.

Tibetan prayer flags are a Buddhist tradition that is thousands of years old called “Lung Ta” meaning “wind horse”. The cloth flutters in the wind to release messages of hope for the benefit of all. Prayer flags are often found hanging in high places atop mountains, shrines, rooftops or trees. Not to long ago I saw a striking poster in Freeport at the Northface store that showed a hiking trail with a little old building. Along the trail strung from the corner of the building were beautiful prayer flags with pictures and words.

I just learned that Sarah has been awarded the 2009 Sarah Farmer Peace Award and will receive it on August 22, 2009. The award is presented to recognize the contributions of individuals and groups who take effective local action to promote world peace and understanding among nations and members of the human family. CONGRATULATIONS SARAH!

You can contact Sarah @ Sarah Haskell, P.O. Box 452, York, ME 03909 or you can go to her blog by clicking here to learn more and see more pictures. Information for this post was taken from seascoastonline.com and from the Sarah’s blog “Woven Voices”.