Flags of Peace Project Brings Messages of Hope to The Yard in New Brunswick

“You are enough!” “Love One Another!” “Shalom! Peace!”

Messages of affirmation, words of compassion, and calls to help others wave in the breeze above The Yard on College Avenue on the Rutgers-New Brunswick campus.

They are part of the Flags of Peace project created by the Collaborative Center for Community Engagement at Rutgers.

Flags of Peace engages members of the Rutgers and New Brunswick communities to create affirmations for peace on multicolored flags, which are then raised above the space at 40 College Avenue.

The project was created through a partnership between the Collaborative Center and the Windows of Understanding Public Art Social Justice Initiative, New Brunswick Cultural Center, the Arts Institute of Middlesex County, and The Yard at College Avenue.

The flags, which will be on display until May, feature the artwork and affirmations for peace and wellness in the community created by Rutgers staff and students, community organizations, and New Brunswick residents.

The project was conceived by Claudio Mir, senior program coordinator at the Collaborative and professional artist, in response to the isolation and stresses that have come as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, layered with a recent increase in safety concerns in the community. 

“I was inspired by the Tibetan tradition of hanging prayer flags to put positive messages for hope and peace into the universe,” Mir said.

The mission of the Prayer Flags Project dovetails with Windows of Understanding’s mission to create art that projects positive messages of hope, compassion, and peace for the community. 

“During these unsettling times, the Flags of Peace project provides a space for community members to envision a beloved community thriving for a better future and how we can work together collectively to achieve it,” said Tracey O’Reggio Clark, interim executive director of the New Brunswick Cultural Center and one of the co-Founders of Windows of Understanding.

The messages inscribed on the flags run the gambit from quotes from prolific author bell hooks (“There can be no love without justice.”) to parts of passages from the Gospel of Matthew (“Blessed are the peacemakers”) to words from the heart (“Seek inner peace.”).

Many of those who participated in the project included small drawings of hearts, flowers, butterflies, and doves.

Among the Rutgers departments and community organizations that have participated in the project are the Civic League of Greater New Brunswick, Rutgers Bonner Leaders, the staff from the Division of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement, New Brunswick Public Schools, New Brunswick Cultural Center, Arts Institute of Middlesex County, Rutgers Collaborative Center students, Zimmerli Art Museum, and RWJ Barnabas Community Health Promotion. 

Flags of Peace is an ongoing art project, so new flag submissions are welcome and will be added to the exhibit at The Yard. 

“We are elated to welcome Rutgers students, faculty and staff, and members of the New Brunswick community to experience this installation at the Yard. Our goal in programming and managing the space is to welcome and connect each of these groups in positive shared experiences” said Merissa Buczny, vice president of New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO), which oversees the management of The Yard. 

Story by: Chuck O'Donnell

Photo Credit: Rutgers' Collaborative Center for Community Engagement