West Chester, PA – March 24, 2009 – Anna Karas, a third-year elementary education major and honors student at West Chester University, is creating a Wish Tree. The Wish Tree will be set up in the Sykes Student Union on campus on West Rosedale Avenue beginning April 6, 2009 and continuing through April 20, 2009. The Wish Tree is an interactive art installation based on a similar installation by world renowned artist Yoko Ono who was inspired by a Japanese tradition called “tanzaku.” The installation encourages people to take a moment for reflection and decide what they wish for most in the world. They are instructed to simply make a wish, write it down, and hang the wish on the Wish Tree. The tree will collect wishes for two weeks, after which the wish tags will be incorporated into Yoko Ono’s Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland. Finally, the tree will be planted in Everhart Park on South Brandywine Street as a conclusion to Ms. Karas’ installation.
Anna is involving local elementary schools by having the students send her wishes. The students ranging from preschool through fifth grade have been provided everything they need to participate. College students and faculty will also be encouraged to write their wishes and hang them on the tree. In order to involve the greater community, Anna Karas is inviting everyone to not only visit the Wish Tree on WCU campus, but also to add their own wishes.
For further information on this event, contact Anna Karas at (412) 760-3132 or e-mail her at AK627673@wcupa.edu.
To the right is an example of a wish tree. Wish trees are all different and this picture shows an example of what could be seen in April in Sykes Student Union.
Support the wish tree by writing down one’s own wish.