Nakashima Foundation for Peace - Bucks County Courier 1987

"It is hoped that this table might become a physical symbol of peace, a peace that is central to our very existence on Earth—To sing and chant around it, each in his own tongue. . .to present a rose or lotus on it, with the Indian sense of devotion: returned when dry as a blessing ... Perhaps as an object of pilgrimage, inviting my sadhu (mendicant) friends from India for meditation, or peace groups to gather about, it being a symbol."

With these words George Nakashima, Bucks County's master woodworker, accepted the dedication of his Altar for Peace at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City last week. A massive wooden table hewn from a 125-foot walnut tree, the altar was installed in the cathedral Monday and dedicated Wednesday during the church's fourth annual New Year's Eve Concert for Peace. Close to 4,000 people crowded into the cathedral to hear the music of Beethoven, Schubert and Leonard Bernstein and celebrate the arrival of Nakashima's most monumental work.

'My idea was that the peace movement, in which I'm very interested, should have a symbol, a physical symbo1,' said Nakashimia, describing the altar in an interview in his Solebury Township studio, a peaceful retreat dappled with natural light and the soft glow of wooden sculptures, tables and chairs.		"Peace is more than an absence of war. It is a creative sprit, a great light that can ultimately take over the world.
		George Nakashima

At 81, Nakashima has the frame and demeanor of a much younger man, moving swiftly between the living quarters, workshop and studio that comprise his grounds. In heavy snow, Nakashima braved the outdoors with a bright paper parasol, wearing orange snow boots, a Mexican wool cap and Japanese wrap coat, or hanten.

The peace movement, said Nakashima, draws him "because otherwise, I think, there is no hope for the world." But the Altar for peace is not tied to a political organization; it was funded and carried out largely by Nakashima's friends and supporters. "We're not members of any peace group," said Nakashima. "We feel that what we're doing is apolitical."

The idea for a peace altar dates back three years, when Nakashima acquired a giant log from a 300-year-old walnut tree a logger scouted out for him on Long Island.

"I knew that this was a great log, and I knew that something extraordinary should happen with it," Nakashima recalled.

It wasn't until several months later, when Nakashima was in the hospital recovering from an operation, that it struck him suddenly, "as in a dream," that the log should become a peace altar. Nakashima wrote down his dream, and the idea caught on among a circle of supporters who began raising funds for the project, which cost Nakashima about $10,000.

Nakashima also approached Steven C. Rockefeller, a friend and client, who became the project's honorary chairman. "Everything went very smoothly after that," said Nakashima. Rockefeller, who is dean and professor of religion at Middlebury (Vt.) College, became a link between Nakashima and St. John the Divine. Nakashima initially targeted the United Nations building in New York as a site, but discovered there was little room, and it would not even fit through the door. The cathedral appealed to him because of its non-sectarian spirit. An Episcopal church, St. John the Divine embraces all races and religions, keeping with the altar's purpose, Nakashima said.

Turning the dream into reality proved a challenge, acknowledged Nakashima. The altar's size posed technical problems from start to finish. Ten and a half feet long, 10' feet wide and 3 feet off the ground, the piece was unwieldy to work with and almost impossible to transport.

To begin with, the wood could not be cut on a regular sawmill or handsaw. Nakashima had to get a sawyer from California to cut the log on an Alaska Mill, or 8-foot chainsaw. Because the altar spanned more than 10 feet, it couldn't fit in Nakashima's workshop and had to be moved to an outbuilding.

Transporting it to New York proved another hurdle, amid permit problems and a trip down the highway on a 40-foot flatbed. Installing the piece, which weighs almost a ton, was the work of two dozen men.

The finished altar forms a somewhat heart-shaped surface that follows the natural shape of the tree trunk. The surface combines two boards from the same tree, 3 inches thick and fastened together with rosewood butterfly inlays.

"I think possibly it's the largest piece of furniture ever made out of solid wood," said Nakashima.

Besides being a renowned woodworker, Nakashima is a writer and philosopher. He wrote "The Soul of a Tree," which was published in 1981 by Kodansha Ltd. in Tokyo and distributed by Harper & Rowe.

For Nakashima, the altar is more than a work of art, more than a peace symbol.

"The genesis of this altar for peace was perhaps a thousand years ago in Japan, the time when the great forests with huge trees existed and the spirit of man and nature was deep and real 'Nakashima told listeners at the altar's dedication.

A Japanese-American, Nakashima said woodworking is a part of his heritage; traditionally, Japan's was entirely a wood architecture, boasting wooden temples the size of Western cathedrals. But "Japan has been modernized so fast that she has a tendency to neglect her own traditions," said Nakashima. His work is one way to keep them alive.

With the altar, as with all his 'work, Nakashima worked hard to accommodate the natural shape of the wood. "Quite often, this isn't easy to do," said Nakashima of the principle that guides his craft. Sometimes, a piece of wood is around 10 years before he decides what form it should take, he said.

"We have to live with boards and do what the board tells us to do," said Nakashima. As a result, no two pieces are ever quite alike.

Nakashima plans at least three more peace altars, using two more massive logs, one from Connecticut, one from California. He hopes to send one altar to the Soviet Union, one to Nagasaki and another to Jerusalem. Negotiations have begun with foreign officials, but plans are still in the formative stage.

Each one will be unique, said Nakshima, but the spirit behind them will be the same. As Nakashima told his listeners New Year's Eve: "Peace is more than an absence of war. It is a creative spirit, a great light that can ultimately take over the world."

Update: There is now one in Moscow for the continent of Europe and another in Auroville, India for the continent of Asia. The committee has suggested that smaller versions be built after the major ones for major continents are completed, so that many small points of light encircle the globe with Peace.

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