Artist: Lynn Tillery
Year: 1983
Dates: b.1918, Philadelphia, PA
Materials: Bronze
Dimensions: 3.5’ x 19” x 21”

About Child of Peace

Lynn Tillery’s Child of Peace blends bright green and polished patinas to mark her understanding of one section of Max Ehrmann’s poem, “Desiderata.” Peace is a universal principle, which the artist explores through the different facades of her sculpture. The one solid mass creates a sense of volume, while the curving form joins the positive and negative space. The fluid and graceful quality of the sculpture relates to that of poetry. Tillery designed the work for the viewer to look into the polished concaved surface, and thus reflect back upon the existence of peace and turmoil.

“You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be, and whatever your labor and aspiration, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.”

-Max Ehrmann