Wish Trees

Yoko Ono Wish Trees

“As a child in Japan, I used to go to a temple and write out a wish on a piece of thin
paper and tie it around the branch of a tree. Trees in temple courtyards were always
filled with people’s wish knots, which looked like white flowers blossoming from afar.”
Yoko Ono: “All My Works Are A Form Of Wishing”.

Artists can send messages, wishes and hope to a community.

Yoko Ono is a Japanese-American multimedia artist, singer, songwriter and peace activist.

Since this series was started in 1993, Wish Tree has been installed in several cities around the world, millions of wishes have been made along with many iterations.

Iteration:  the repetition of a process.   new versions of a piece (artwork)

Yoko Ono’s interactive artwork WISH TREE invites people to write their personal wishes for peace and tie them to a tree branch.  

These trees are installed in a spirit of community, inclusivity, and freedom of expression, and in keeping with the belief that art can open peoples’ eyes and minds.

At the end of a Wish Tree exhibit, every wish is sent back to the artist’s studio, and Ono will incorporate them into her work Imagine Peace Tower (2007–ongoing) in Reykjavik, Iceland. “I hope Imagine Peace Tower will give light to the strong wishes of world peace from all corners of the planet,” she has said, “and give encouragement, inspiration, and a sense of solidarity in a world now filled with fear and confusion.”

Will you create iterations of your work?

A community is a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.  a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. 

Think about the communities in which you belong.

How will you send messages of hope to your community?

Will your art be a way for you to express hope or an opportunity for others to share their wishes?

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Write your wish on a tag.  We will add these to our Wish Tree that will be in the Meramec Lower Level Gallery.