Please join me in the creation of the following art project. You don't need to be an "Artist". Each creation will be included in an art book that looks at the rights of the child.

I am a Canadian artist and I completed an art project in Iraq in April 1999. It was a line drawing of a child. The primitive and simple image was formed using small stones laid on the ground. I dedicated this ground art to the Iraqi children in support of their rights which are guaranteed under international law. I would like to put out a call to all creatively minded people around the world, including children, to join me in creating a similar ground art project in their part of the world, in support of the children around the world.

Each person involved would design their own image and lay it out themselves. I ask that the image be of a mother and child. It should be kept simple and be as large as possible so that it becomes part of the surrounding landscape. Smaller projects would not be ruled out. Each image will be included in a future art book that looks at children's rights. I am in the process of inviting celebrities who have supported peace and understanding, to write a few words (a short paragraph) that would accompany this art book project. One page would show the artwork of a community, the facing page would have a short paragraph on the rights of the child.

I will be doing an image here in British Columbia, Canada this year. For each art project, artists might wish to use stones in piles to form the lines as I did in Iraq. Or perhaps they will dig a deep line into the ground to form their image. Others might plant a thick line of tulips to form their drawing on the ground and watch it re appear every spring. Some might plant a bed of flowers in a field where children, mothers and dads could walk around together and sense the image together. Or it might just be a dry line of stones out in the wilderness somewhere. I could even see a beautiful image formed by having small children stand or sit in position to form the shape of the mother and child image.

I laid out my design on the ground in Baghdad in a couple of days so it doesn't need to be a huge investment of your time. Once their project is complete, I ask that the image, within it's landscape, be creatively photographed in special and interesting light or extreme weather conditions. I hope to include everything from the windy, lush green hills of Scotland, the sunbaked desert of Jordan, to the open plains of Africa. If anyone would like to take part in this exciting project, please contact me.

Sincerely
Deryk Houston,
dhouston@coastnet.com
http://coastnet.com/dhouston/
Canada