by Rosario Teixeira
 
 
Boston, MA -  Peace of Art, Inc. launched its 2015 genocide awareness billboard campaign "100 Billboards for 100 Years of Genocide." Dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, and it honors the victims of all genocides of the last one hundred years.
 
In January 2015, Peace of Art, Inc. began to display large electronic and stationary billboards in Massachusetts, and expanded the project to other states.  Artist Daniel Varoujan Hejinian, founder and president of Peace of Art, Inc. said "We are sending a message of peace, to condemn the past crimes of genocide, and bring awareness to this cause, in order to prevent other nations from being the next target of genocide.  With the billboards, our message is that genocide continues to be a threat to humanity, we urge viewers to condemn the crime of genocide, be alert, 'Don't be the next victim,' and put an end to this crime against humanity once and for all."  
 
Five different images were created for the Peace of Art's 2015 Armenian Genocide centennial campaign.  On the first billboard, a dove, a symbol of peace, is circled by the letter "O" in the word "genocide," with the flags of countries that already recognized the Armenian genocide.  Another billboard was distinguished by a target in the center of the word "genocide." The third electronic display symbolizes the bitten heart of a nation, in which the bitten piece reminds us of the loss of 1.5 million innocent victims. The fourth billboard display includes "Forget Me Not" flower in the center of the word "genocide." The fifth billboard states that the Armenian Genocide has been recognized by 43 states in the United States, and asks President Obama to join them, reminding him of his campaign promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide. As April 24th, 2015 approaches, the Armenian communities in the United States, as well as Armenian communities around the world, await impatiently for President Obama to use the word "genocide" in his commemoration speech, without distortions or euphemisms.
 
In 2003, Hejinian officially founded Peace of Art, Inc. a nonprofit educational organization; however, his Armenian Genocide awareness campaign activities began in 1996.  Peace of Art, Inc. uses art as an educational tool to bring awareness to the human condition.  Through the universal language of art, we promote peaceful solutions to conflicts, but we have no political or religious associations.  In the last nineteen years we have displayed the Armenian Genocide commemorative billboards calling for recognition of the Armenian Genocide.  In 2004 Peace of Art Inc. began to sponsor the Armenian Genocide commemorative billboards.
 
This year, the goal of Peace of Art, Inc. is to raise 100 billboards in different states and other countries to commemorate the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.  The billboards commemorating the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, as well as previous Peace of Art, Inc. projects have been organized and funded by Peace of Art, Inc. We have not solicited donations, we have not conducted fund raising efforts, and we have not received donations.  Peace of Art, Inc. is registered in the state of Massachusetts and tax exempt under section 501 C 3.  More information is available on the website www.PeaceofArt.org and we can be reached at contact@PeaceofArt.org
 
Since January 2015, Peace of Art's Armenian Genocide commemorative billboards have been displayed in Chicago, IL; Seattle and Bothell, WA; Peabody, and Foxboro, MA; and Cleveland, OH.  More billboards are being displayed in additional locations in Atlanta, GA; Dallas and San Antonio, TX; Hartford and New Haven, CT; Syracuse, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Columbus, OH; and Toronto, Canada.
 
The response to our billboards has been overwhelming from the communities around the country.  Different Armenian organizations, such as Armenian Genocide Fresno Committee, Centennial Committee of Ontario, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Syracuse Committee, Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of Greater Detroit, Chicago Genocide Centennial Commemoration Committee, Philadelphia Genocide Centennial Commemoration Committee, Armenian Church of San Antonio TX, Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee of Merrimack Valley, Lowell MA, as well as individuals asked us to help them install similar billboards in their states.