The Great Peacemakers Collection
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The Great Peacemakers - Description and Inspiration by Steve Simon
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The Great Peacemakers Meditation
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Artist Steve Simon began studying a broad range of peacemakers in 2010. He has since painted compositions of these luminaries in an effort to capture the essence of each of their contributions towards peace. The collection will be published in the artist’s eighth book. In addition to reproductions of the paintings, the book will include biographies of each peacemaker, revealing the manner in which they influenced each other and the opportunity they have left succeeding generations to expand upon their legacies.
Simon began the collection as a response to a realization of his own relative ignorance about these historical figures and their imminent relevance to contemporary events playing out on the world stage. As the son of a Nazi Concentration Camp survivor, Simon has long felt the urge to identify roots of oppression and ponder means for a more cooperative universal coexistence.
Of course, all of us have ideas how we would change the world if we were king. This collection is not about that. It is not about one artist’s ideas. It is about his interpretation of a vast array of history’s courageous contributors who deserve to be studied and respected. Many of the personalities are familiar to most people, others perhaps not. Simon’s goal in producing this body of work, both the art and the book, was to knit together a historical narrative that places each peacemaker in the broader overarching context of the march toward greater universal freedom, justice, and shared happiness.
How, then, did the artist select the subjects for the collection or even define a “great peacemaker” for that matter? Plainly and simply, great peacemakers were defined as those who recognized social norms that were at odds with freedom, justice, and shared happiness and had the courage and fortitude to overturn these negative social norms. Each of the entries in this collection passed that test. To be certain there are many more who would qualify. The collection is not meant to be comprehensive but rather representative of peacemakers across a broad spectrum of realms including: racial equality, gender equality, environmental stewardship, and non-violence. It also highlights figures who have exhibited exemplary compassion or dedication to advancing happiness.
Most importantly Simon’s aim is to educate. There is no comprehensive means in our general education or public forum to inform us of the extraordinary sacrifices and contributions these great people profiled in this collection have given us. Perhaps we learn bits and pieces, often sensationalized and propagandized for specific biases, of certain noteworthy biographies. Rarely, however, do we find an objective source that knits these biographies together in a meaningful way that outlines the path peace has marched and where it must lead. This is precisely what Simon has set out to do.
The collection is not, therefore, solely a collection of biographies but rather a distillation of courageous contributions into a narrative that establishes a certain encouraging, if not, indomitable arc. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” This collection is about those who have put their backs into shaping that arc. It is about their words and actions and about the lessons they have to offer us regarding collective peace and individual happiness. It is about a group of humanity’s benefactors who individually said, “Enough foolishness!” and then themselves had just enough foolishness to do something about it.
We stand on their shoulders. May we understand that their examples are imminently relevant. May we learn from them and, finally, may we pick up where they have left off.
Simon began the collection as a response to a realization of his own relative ignorance about these historical figures and their imminent relevance to contemporary events playing out on the world stage. As the son of a Nazi Concentration Camp survivor, Simon has long felt the urge to identify roots of oppression and ponder means for a more cooperative universal coexistence.
Of course, all of us have ideas how we would change the world if we were king. This collection is not about that. It is not about one artist’s ideas. It is about his interpretation of a vast array of history’s courageous contributors who deserve to be studied and respected. Many of the personalities are familiar to most people, others perhaps not. Simon’s goal in producing this body of work, both the art and the book, was to knit together a historical narrative that places each peacemaker in the broader overarching context of the march toward greater universal freedom, justice, and shared happiness.
How, then, did the artist select the subjects for the collection or even define a “great peacemaker” for that matter? Plainly and simply, great peacemakers were defined as those who recognized social norms that were at odds with freedom, justice, and shared happiness and had the courage and fortitude to overturn these negative social norms. Each of the entries in this collection passed that test. To be certain there are many more who would qualify. The collection is not meant to be comprehensive but rather representative of peacemakers across a broad spectrum of realms including: racial equality, gender equality, environmental stewardship, and non-violence. It also highlights figures who have exhibited exemplary compassion or dedication to advancing happiness.
Most importantly Simon’s aim is to educate. There is no comprehensive means in our general education or public forum to inform us of the extraordinary sacrifices and contributions these great people profiled in this collection have given us. Perhaps we learn bits and pieces, often sensationalized and propagandized for specific biases, of certain noteworthy biographies. Rarely, however, do we find an objective source that knits these biographies together in a meaningful way that outlines the path peace has marched and where it must lead. This is precisely what Simon has set out to do.
The collection is not, therefore, solely a collection of biographies but rather a distillation of courageous contributions into a narrative that establishes a certain encouraging, if not, indomitable arc. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” This collection is about those who have put their backs into shaping that arc. It is about their words and actions and about the lessons they have to offer us regarding collective peace and individual happiness. It is about a group of humanity’s benefactors who individually said, “Enough foolishness!” and then themselves had just enough foolishness to do something about it.
We stand on their shoulders. May we understand that their examples are imminently relevant. May we learn from them and, finally, may we pick up where they have left off.