is long but it bends toward justice.” It
is indeed a truth that humanity has
been consistently progressing toward
a more just and peaceful state. It is
precisely these peacemakers that keep
the relay race going, passing the baton
to the next through their legacies.
While humanity has clearly
progressed toward justice, at least
historically since the depths of the
Dark Ages, the magnitude, severity,
and breadth of social, economic, and
environmental issues threatens the
human race like those of no other his-
torical epoch. It is for this reason that
the story of the great peacemakers is
so critical. There is a depth of wisdom
and knowledge to learn from them as
we individually confront challenges
in our own lives as well as collectively
within our families, communities, na-
tions, and across our planet. Sadly, it is
a body of historic wisdom and knowl-
edge rarely taught in any meaningful
and comprehensive way.
With this tragic lack of educa-
tion for the advancement of peace, it
has become my passion to bring the
messages of the Great Peacemakers to
audiences wherever welcomed. Upon
finishing the paintings earlier this
year, I have begun working on a trav-
eling exhibit that will include thirty-
six retractable banners, each depicting
a great peacemaker. The exhibit will
be completed next year. Each banner
will include: a biography, an essay
discussing the peacemaker’s unique
and currently relevant contribution to
the “bending of the arc,” and a descrip-
tion of the painting’s composition and
symbolism. Visitors will also have
the ability to scan a QR code, direct-
ing smart phone users to a video of
the painting’s progression with audio
lending insights to the composition.
6 IMAGINE l Fall 2018
Malala Yousafzai was born in 1997 in
the Swat Valley of Pakistan. At eleven
she began writing a blog about life
under the Taliban, especially about
their efforts to prevent girls from receiv-
ing an education. Tragically, a Taliban
gunmen tracked her bus down one day
coming home from school and shot her
in the head. Yousafzai was just fifteen
years old, but amazingly survived
the attempted murder. She has since
become a renowned education activist
and the youngest person to be awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize. Yousafzai is
portrayed in this allegorical painting
standing up for her beliefs—the pen
symbolizing her freedom of expression
in the face of repressive violence, and
the book her right to education.
Elie Wiesel survived Auschwitz-Birkenau and two other concentration camps during World War II. He went on to
author the internationally acclaimed Night about his experiences in the camps. He became a professor, activist,
and wrote 57 books in all, condemning persecution and injustice across the globe. The painting is an allegory of
this famous excerpt from Night: “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life
into one long night... Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose
bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky...Never shall I forget these things, even if I
am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.”