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1000 cranes on display in the window of the Ace Hotel.Photo courtesy of Seann McKeel

by Peggy McMullen

If you've been following Seann McKeel's determined progress on her peace project, her  flock of felted knit cranes is now completed and -- at least through Thursday of this week -- on display at the Ace Hotel in downtown Portland.

The community-based art project she initiated in September of 2006 was inspired by the true story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl in Japan, who became ill with leukemia after being exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Sadako believed a Japanese legend that anyone who foldeds 1,000 cranes would be granted a wish. She began feverishly folding cranes and had folded 644 before she died, at age 12, on Oct. 25, 1955. Her friends completed the 1,000 cranes she'd sought, and buried the colorful paper birds with her.

"She died, but she always kept hope," McKeel said in an interview with The Oregonian in 2006.

A Children's Peace Monument was constructed at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park to commemorate Sadako and the thousands of other children who were victims of the atomic blast. A statue of Sadako, holding a crane, stands atop the monument.(Seattle's Peace Park also has a statue of Sadako.) ......

Read more at  -  http://blog.oregonlive.com/knitting/2010/06/seann_mckeel_has_finally_lande.html