Wing and a Prayer
Amway Grand Plaza Hotel
September 18 through October 6
VOTE 55278
Celebrating the children within 
Young Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia after the 1945 atom bomb destroyed Hiroshima. Although Sadako loved to run, she was soon too weak. An ancient Japanese legend states that by folding a thousand paper cranes one’s wish for health would be granted. So Sadako began folding cranes.
Sadako didn’t finish folding all the birds before she died. But because of Sadako’s tenacity for life, her classmates completed the cranes, and her father placed the thousand paper cranes in her casket. Since then, Sadako’s hope has inspired other children around the world to soar above adversity.
Wing and a Prayer also invites viewers to respond by hanging a wish or a prayer on the wall for a child. Like the draft under a bird’s wing, each wish or prayer uplifts a child in need—whether the challenge is physical, mental, or emotional. As the notes rise up the wall, they transform into thousands of paper birds and give hope wings.
Find out more on my ArtPrize 2013: Wing and a Prayer page
Note: Models and pseudonyms have been used.
