Monument 1, entitled “Let There Be Peace,” was created by artist Alexandra Nechita. The monument was dedicated in August, 2005 in Singapore, by President Nathan, the Global Peace Initiative, and the artist. The event was attended by dignitaries from around the globe and covered by worldwide media.
“Let There Be Peace” began as a Nechita painting. Next, the artist created a 3-foot maquette (miniature). The maquette was then scaled up to a full-sized monument, standing over 11 feet tall.
Today, “Let There Be Peace” stands at the entrance to the Singapore Museum of Fine Art, a gift to the people of Asia by Nechita and the Global Peace Initiative in the name of peace.
Alexandra Nechita was born in Romania and immigrated to the United States when she was two years old. She began drawing and coloring by age three, and by age seven, she was already painting. When she was just nine years old, an art dealer and publisher named Ben Valenty saw her paintings hanging in a used bookstore. Recognizing her gift, Valenty signed her to a publishing contract, which was unheard-of at the time.
Galleries and the art establishment initially rejected Valenty’s efforts to promote the young artist. After all, they reasoned, how could a nine-year-old have anything interesting to say artistically? More from frustration than anything else, Valenty took Nechita’s story to the media, who immediately embraced her. Soon, her story and artistic gifts were profiled on The Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes, The Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, USA Today, Vanity Fair Magazine, and countless dozens of other media outlets.
By age ten, Nechita was one of the best-selling living artists in the world. When Valenty and his partner, Ernest Lewis, founded the Global Peace Initiative in 2003, Nechita was the logical choice to create the first monument.
See a version of "Let There Be Peace" in glass below.
In recognition of the Global Peace Initiative and Nechita’s commitment to the message of peace, Queen Elizabeth II commissioned a set of legal tender coins with a Nechita painting engraved on them entitled "Peace is the Only Option."
The Lennon Monument was based on a painting by 17 year-old Lauren Voiers (in 2010). It was inspired by John Lennon, who became the very embodiment of the concept of giving peace a chance, as he once sang so powerfully. The monument was dedicated by Julian and Cynthia Lennon on John’s 70th birthday in Liverpool, England, where four lads, including Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, were born, grew up, and formed The Beatles.
Understandably, the dedication of the Lennon Monument on that day in October, 2010 was a worldwide event. Perhaps owing to the still-global appeal of John Lennon and the Beatles, the BBC estimated that the television coverage around the globe was over 1.2 billion people.
Lauren Voiers’ journey to becoming an artist was the result of a severe case of bipolar disorder in her teens. Art became her calming influence, and she spent countless hours painting, discovering she had a talent for artistic creation in the process. After posting some photos of her paintings online, she was discovered by Ben Valenty, who tapped her to become the artist of the second monument slated for the European continent.
Like Nechita before her, Voiers’ monument began life as a painting originally titled "Peace & Harmony." After many months of work, the full-sized monument, standing some 18-feet tall, was ready to be painted. The Lennon Monument, as it has come to be known, masterfully blended a piano keyboard and guitar, Lennon’s main instruments, and its title refers to Lennon’s twin passions, peace, and music (harmony).
In early 2022, Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, and it was suddenly time for the Global Peace Initiative to build another monument…. dedicated to peace in the name of the Ukrainian people, and in the name of the Russian people who certainly did not want war, either. And so the search was on for a special artist who could create a towering monument that would radiate a message of peace and hope to the Ukrainian people during their darkest hours.
The search took the Global Peace Initiative all over the world and, in each case, ended in failure and disappointment. Then, in a quirk of fate that was so improbable, the impossible happened! The Global Peace Initiative discovered (now) 16-year-old Osbelit Garcia Morales in a tiny Mexican town with a population of only 686. As soon as the GPI saw Osbelit’s work, she was offered the commission for the Ukrainian monument, and she accepted.
When the Ukrainian Monument was ready for unveiling in Spring 2023,the war in Ukraine was still raging on, making it inadvisable to place the monument in-country. In an incredible quirk of fate, Eurovision 2023 had been moved to Liverpool, England since it was also impossible to hold the massive event in Ukraine.
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER!
One of the Beatles biggest hits was "Strawberry Fields Forever," principally written by John Lennon Strawberry Field was an orphanage located next to Lennon's boyhood home. He often played with the orphan children there. In 2015, Strawberry Field was converted to a museum in honor of Lennon. In a gesture that Lennon, himself, might have approved, Strawberry Field agreed to host the Ukrainian Monument on a temporary basis until peace in the Ukrainian conflict makes it possible for the monument to find its permanent home in that country.
About the Artist...
There were no art galleries or museums where Osbelit lived to inspire her artistic curiosity. Yet, when all the other kids wanted to play, all 8-year-old Osbelit wanted to do was fill her school notebook with drawings. Even then, Osbelit’s drawings were not the scribblings of the average 8-year-old. They were sophisticated portraits…near perfect in every detail.
She quickly moved on to dry pastels, creating works so advanced that word of an artistic genius began to spread throughout Southern Mexico. Soon, Osbelit was painting as if she had been doing it for many more years than she had been alive. When art supplies were not available, Osbelit used boards and flat stones to paint on, and she mixed her own paint using local dies and chalk. For the next 3 years, Osbelit walked several miles each day to her middle school, where she was allowed to stay after to paint and draw.
In 2022, Osbelit was discovered by Global Peace Initiative founder Ben Valenty and given the commission to create the Ukrainian Monument.
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