Arc of Peace

Sponsor: Edmond Visual Arts Commission partnered with Joseph and Elizabeth Waner

Lorri Acott says she always knew she had something to say to the world. As a fan of Helen Keller and her tutor Ann Sullivan, Lorri originally chose teaching special education as the medium to express herself. An incidental invitation from a fellow teacher led her to try making raku pottery – which introduced her to her passion for sculpture. In the March 2009 Southwest Art Magazine article about Lorri, she commented: “Visual art is collaborative. The artist creates the art, and the viewer brings his or her own experiences and perspectives to it.”

The partners for this piece, Joseph and Elizabeth Waner, were attracted to both the color and the form of the sculpture, and the invitation to the viewer to imagine their own story about the piece. Is it a man or a woman? a child? what are the birds all about? why are they being released? The setting of the piece in Hafer Park – where it is viewed by Edmond residents of all shapes and sizes and backgrounds and states of mind – sets the stage to re-enforce the artist’s goal for her work.