Posting Peace: Peace Corps Posters 1961–2022
This exhibition by ArtReach Gallery and the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience does more than trace marketing materials for the agency. In images and words — including works by renowned artists Peter Max and Shepard Fairey — it explores how we think about and talk about the idea of peace itself. And how we make it. Introduction by W. Sheldon Hurst Curator, ArtReach Gallery To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps in 2011, Shepard Fairey created a poster that was widely distributed across the United States. The focus of the two figures is on the fruit of the...
Silver and Saddles
My Tuareg silverwork reminds me of the hidden beauty amid the vast arid scrubland of the Nigerien Sahel. By Cathy Sunshine During my second year as a health educator in Aderbissinat, Niger, my work partner and I had new saddles made for our two camels. The camels were our work transport, purchased for us by Peace Corps. There were no paved roads in the barren landscape around Aderbissinat, only tracks in the sand. Volunteers in larger towns got mopeds; we got camels. In addition to working in the village clinic, we would ride the camels several miles into the bush...
Peace Corps Posters: In Portland, Oregon, ArtReach Gallery and the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience Host an Exhibit Spanning Six Decades
Posting Peace in Portland Peace Corps Posters 1961–2022 If you’re near Portland, Oregon, before October 16, be sure to visit ArtReach Gallery for the exhibit Posting Peace. Co-hosted by the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience, it features six decades of Peace Corps posters and maps. The exhibit and an accompanying book are curated by gallery director Sheldon Hurst. Collectors in Oregon, California, Illinois, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere contributed. The exhibit is also made possible thanks to First Congregational UCC, Portland Peace Corps Association, and NPCA. Special events connected to the exhibit take place in September and October. On September 18, former Peace...
The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience Wants to Share Your Story
With a growing collection of first-hand narratives, the museum connects people, places, and objects. Those all connect us — across nations and generations. By David Arnold “Your Peace Corps service began when you entered training and embarked on your service in another country and culture,” says Patricia Wand (Colombia 1963–65), president of the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience. “We’ve collected many cherished cultural artifacts Peace Corps Volunteers brought home and the stories behind them. We want to add your story of that experience.” The museum’s most recent exhibit was hosted at American University Museum in Katzen Arts Center, Washington, D.C. The next curated exhibit will be at Peace Corps Place when National Peace Corps Association opens...
What’s Your Story? The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience and the Peace Corps Oral History Project Want to Help You Tell It.
Bring your Peace Corps experience to a wider world. The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience seeks to preserve Peace Corps stories and objects donated by Volunteers: museumofthepeacecorpsexperience.org The Peace Corps Oral History project has trained interviewers ready to capture your story. They have extended a special invitation to those who served in Ukraine to tell stories of people and places they know, and of efforts to help those in harm’s way: peacecorpsoralhistory.org
Many Faces of Peace Corps: A 60th Anniversary Video
Stories and reflections of eight Volunteers: The challenges that come with Peace Corps service when you’re a person of color, low income, or identify as LGBTQIA+. And the richness of the relationships forged in communities around the world. The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience and the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project are pleased to share “Many Faces of Peace Corps: 60th Anniversary” video. The 19-minute video features personal stories and reflections of eight Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who identify as members of under-represented populations in the United States. The stories, gleaned from extended oral history interviews, shed light on challenges faced by Volunteers of...