When the Military Avenue Neighborhood Association decided to commission Omaha artist Trudy Swanson to create a steel crane sculpture, she decided to take the assignment one step further.
Swanson wanted to bring together different areas of the community by facilitating a performance piece.
Now through September 30th, anyone who wants to is invited to fold a paper crane and drop it off at a participating library.
Swanson says the crane has become an international symbol of peace. She explains once all the cranes are collected, they’ll be joined together to form one united community call for peace.
"I had an opportunity to do a sculpture in a highly public place. And I saw it as an opportunity to create something that would not only be meaningful to the people who pass by but also an opportunity to help lead the residents of this city through a project where they could build community and they could share with each other. And ultimately come together as one in the building of their own sculpture.”
Swanson says Omahans can post photos of their paper cranes on the project’s Facebook page, Omaha Peace Project.
She says her crane sculpture will be installed at the intersection of Military Avenue, Fontenelle Boulevard and Northwest Radial Highway in the next few weeks.