Jersey City – Saint Peter’s College will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original unveiling of its Peace sculpture on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. Peace was created by Jasha Green, a renowned sculptor and painter, to commemorate the signing of the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, an agreement that called for both countries to cease hostile activities. Saint Peter’s Peace sculpture is on permanent display in the quadrangle on the College’s Jersey City campus.
Mr. Green dedicated the sculpture to the College on November 18, 1979. Using two rust-red, Cor-ten steel pieces to construct the abstract, 8-foot high sculpture, he created a “V” shape to represent a dove’s wings. This piece, which is a part of the official art collection of Saint Peter’s College, is one of three Peace sculptures created by Mr. Green that are located throughout the world.
The College’s version of Peace is a smaller model of the 12-foot sculpture located in Jerusalem at the International Cultural Center for Youth. The third Peace sculpture is displayed at the Beth Shalom Home in Eastern Virginia, a long-term care facility for the elderly. According to Dianne Green, the artist’s wife, the Peace sculptures were placed at these three sites because each one serves a different age group.
Mr. Green passed away on June 12, 2006. His works of art are held in private and public collections throughout the globe, including at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, the Galerie Vincy in Paris, the Gallerie Interarte in Milan and the Galerie Wentzel in Cologne, Germany.
The ceremony will begin at 10:00 a.m. at the sculpture site in the quadrangle. Providing remarks will be College President Eugene J. Cornacchia, Ph.D.; Fr. Michael Braden, S.J., vice president for mission and ministry; Eileen L. Poiani, Ph.D., vice president for student affairs; Fr. Oscar Magnan, S.J., professor of fine arts and director of the Saint Peter’s College Art Gallery; Richard M.J. Thurston, Ph.D., chair of Saint Peter’s political science department; and Dianne Green.
Each year, in honor of the artist, the College awards one student with a scholarship from the Jasha Green Memorial Fund, which was established in 2006 to support students who exhibit excellence, creativity and promise in the fields of fine arts, visual arts and graphic arts.
Saint Peter’s College is the Jesuit College of New Jersey. Founded in 1872, Saint Peter’s has an enrollment of approximately 3,000 students in undergraduate and graduate programs. The main campus is located in Jersey City with a branch campus in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, with courses at various corporate sites at the Jersey City waterfront and in South Amboy, NJ.