'We are the wings of love'

COEUR d’ALENE — Earl Hollingsworth watched from across the street as the dedication of the "Monument to Peace and Unity” wrapped up on a sunny Friday morning.

He liked what he saw and heard.

“Pretty cool,” the Rathdrum man said.

About 100 people, most of them students and city officials, attended the 30-minute ceremony at the Four Corners intersection of Northwest Boulevard, Government Way and Fort Grounds Drive, considered the gateway to Coeur d’Alene.

The 24-foot tall steel piece of art depicts two ribbons of birds swirling upward. It was created by artist Ai Qiu Hopen of Humanity Memorial, Inc.

It includes the statements, “We support the self-evident truth that all persons are created equal,” and “We believe that the dignity of each Human Being is inviolable.”

Hopen, in a brief but passionate speech, said, "The birds of peace and unity soaring from these sacred words written by the courageous lives of many demonstrating the power of love is stronger than the power of hatred, rising for peace permanently.”

After the ceremony, Hopen talked to students from Sorensen Magnet School of the Arts and Humanities and encouraged them to walk around and inside the monument.

According to a press release, the $75,000 project was created to be a warm welcome to all people and a symbol of Coeur d’Alene’s “commitment to eliminate racism and prejudice.”

"We have risen to the challenge of hate before and we can do it again," said arts commissioner John Bruning.

Hopen, selected to create the monument after a national search, said the birds she created are flying upward, into the future.

“We are the light transforming darkness of bigotry," she said. "We are the wings of love."

Jennifer Drake, vice chair of the Arts Commission, said the art “celebrates the unity of people and the peace that they are capable of spreading.”

The commission’s criteria for the monument included a long-standing commitment to the equality of all people, social and economic justice for all; dignity and worth of every individual; respect for diversity and the value in creating a strong and more peaceful society.

“I feel confident saying we have something here that will stand up to those ideals as well as it will stand up to years of Coeur d’Alene winters,” Drake said.

Arts commissioner Priscilla Bell said they were standing at the principal point of entry into Coeur d’Alene and adjacent to the grounds which the Coeur d’Alene Tribe called the "gathering place — the area where the regional tribes came together and, hence, the perfect location for this monument to peace and unity.”

The city’s public art ordinance, adopted in 1999, established funding of public art that "provides public visibility and impact."

Hollingsworth said some might question the cost of the monument now, but he was confident it was money well spent.

“They might think this is a little extravagant but when it’s here for a few years it will be looking good,” he added.

Bruning was glad to see so many students there.

“You are the future here,” he said. “I hope you all remember this day.”

There were two dissenters.

A man and a woman held banners professing their faith as they stood at the corner nearest the dedication. Before the ceremony, the man shouted some biblical references, but remained quiet the rest of the time.

A woman told The Press she believed the monument was representative of the biblical story of the Tower of Babel.

Drake returned to the microphone to offer a final statement that seemed directed at the protesters.

She said peace and unity is achieved by people “aligning for a common cause in opposition to other forces that want to tear the peace apart. I encourage all of you to choose the side of advocating for peace, unity, diversity and dignity of every individual. And stand steadfast and tall against anyone who tries to claim that rejecting hate is ever the wrong thing to do."