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Art and sole — global project for peace
YMCA World Art
Video
Artwork at the Davis Family YMCA has footprints all over it. They’re photos of 311 pairs of feet from people from all over the world assembled into a montage by Suzanne Bort Gray to create Peaceful Soleutions.
By Denise Dick
Boardman YMCA leaves its prints on global project for peace
By DENISE DICK
BOARDMAN
Photo
Putting her best foot forward, Suzanne Bort Gray used many people’s artistry on a canvas of feet to make a montage with a peace theme. Gray designed the project using photos of many people’s feet to form a mosaic. The work is part of the Global Art Project for Peace and will be sent to Australia. The Davis Family YMCA, Boardman, will get a piece from Australia as part of the exchange.
Photo
About 310 pairs of feet, painted with mostly peace themes, make up a montage created by Suzanne Bort Gray at the Davis Family YMCA in Boardman. The piece is being sent to Australia as part of the Global Art Project for Peace.
Artwork at the Davis Family YMCA has footprints all over it.
They’re photos of 311 pairs of feet from people from all over the world assembled into a montage by Suzanne Bort Gray to create Peaceful Soleutions.
The piece will be sent to Victoria, Australia, as part of the Global Art Project for Peace 2010 exchange. The Y will receive a piece from Australia to complete the exchange.
“We have people from 16 countries and six continents — every one except Antarctica,” Gray said.
She enlisted the help of family and friends and the Internet to amass the international collection.
People closer to home bared their soles for the effort too. Gray’s family and staff and members of the Y took off their shoes and socks and decorated their feet.
One of those people was Diane Conrad, who works at the Y service desk.
“It was a lot of fun,” Conrad said.
Her four grandchildren, age 8, 2 and 4-year-old twins, joined the barefoot fun.
“They really enjoyed it,” Conrad said. “They painted their own feet, and they had a great time.”
The feet of four of Gray’s grandchildren make up the flower petals included in the montage.
The montage can also be seen on 1000footprints.blogspot.com and graymattermontages.blogspot.com.
All the works in the Global Art Project have a peace theme, and the pieces are exchanged with other submissions from another part of the country or the world.
Another work from Gray’s family is a mosaic of thousands of faces of relatives, friends and acquaintances of her family assembled to form the faces of six people representing different races and age groups.
Gray’s foot piece shows a flower growing out of the world with its roots sprouting from each of the continents. The bloom tilts toward the sun, which has a peace sign inside of it.
It’s all made up of feet decorated with various peace themes. Those feet line the picture’s border.
The Global Art Project occurs every two years and involves artists from around the globe.
Everyone’s feet touch the earth regardless of where they are, what religion they are or where they live, Gray said.
She believes everyone desires peace and that it will be achieved through the efforts of people, not governments.
“This is foot for thought,” Gray said. “We are all the same where our soles [and souls] touch the earth.”