SWAMPSCOTT — Rachel Eisenberg, an art teacher at Clarke Elementary School, stood over some children Wednesday evening as they colored on the blades of the deconstructed pinwheels.
Eisenberg reached for some colored pencils for one child before helping to pin the blades down into the signature fan shape for another.
More than 200 parents, high school students, elementary school students, teachers and community members gathered to celebrate the International Day of Peace on Wednesday by planting and making homemade pinwheels as a part of a nationwide art installation.
During this endeavor, Linscott Park was filled with fluttering pinwheels, picnicking families, and exuberant children as students from the Swampscott Public Schools planted pinwheels made in art classes or at the different booths around the gazebo.
“It’s for us to just come together and show our wishes for peace,” Eisenberg said. “I wanted a way to do a visual display and public-art installation.”
In addition to pinwheel-making, Swampscott Unites, Respects, Embraces (S.U.R.E.) member Martha Curry wrote and read an acrostic poem about community and helped students write their own. Students from the district’s elementary schools sang and performed sign language to “Imagine” by John Lennon. The students were led by Tim Ressler and Renee Mosher, and the music teachers of Stanley, Clarke and Hadley Elementary schools.
The art installation, organized by Eisenberg, is part of Pinwheels For Peace, which is a movement started in 2005 to help acknowledge the International Day of Peace through art installations throughout the country. In 2019, 4 million pinwheels were planted, with Swampscott’s schools planting their first batch.
This is the third annual celebration of International Peace Day, where the schools made a Pinwheels for Peace art installation, says Eisenberg. Last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held virtually.
“It’s really magical, especially after last year,” Eisenberg said.
Katelyn Sahagian can be reached at [email protected].
