Art piece featuring 1,000 paper cranes as a symbol of peace and reconciliation gifted to Heart Mountain
The Cross-Community Reconciliation (CCR) program in Montana was first launched in 2020 by the Global Peace Foundation (GPF) and continues to grow each year with the support of Billings city officials, Native American tribal leaders, and stakeholders from all sectors of the community.
Participants of CCR recently visited Heart Mountain in Wyoming, where a museum spotlights the experience of Japanese Americans who were confined there during World War II. After their heartwarming experience, the group returned a couple of months later, in December, to deliver a gift that would remind Americans for generations of the transformative power of reconciliation and peace.
The following is an excerpt from an article by David Jay for Q2 news.
A group of Billings residents put together an art piece made up of World War II-era paper cranes to be presented on Saturday at Heart Mountain Interpretive Center.
They chose the paper crane because it has become a symbol of hope and peace.
Gary Parkins used the Japanese art of Origami for an art piece called “The Gift of 1000 Paper Cranes.”
“What we’re trying to do is just learn from the experience, create awareness,” Parkins said.
The art is part of the Global Peace Foundation’s Cross Community Reconciliation project and was inspired when the group visited the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center in Wyoming earlier this year.
