Announcing The Let There Be Project
A Collaborative Project Benefiting Lee Pesky Learning Center and The Alliance of Idaho
The Let There Be project was dreamed up by Alan and Wendy Pesky to benefit The Alliance of Idaho and the Lee Pesky Learning Center, both Idaho-based nonprofits. The Alliance of Idaho protects the human rights of immigrants, and Lee Pesky Learning Center works with students, families, schools, and communities to understand and overcome obstacles to learning. Alan Pesky loved the final passage of Draw Your Weapons, a book by writer Sarah Sentilles, who is also the Executive Director of The Alliance. “Might we turn those words into art?” he asked. And the Let There Be project was born.
Let there be truthtelling. Let there be accountability. Let there be repair.
The first one hundred people to donate $1,000—five hundred to benefit The Alliance and five hundred to benefit Lee Pesky Learning Center—will receive one of the limited series of 100 posters and a copy of Draw Your Weapons. Each poster measures 30 inches by 22 inches and will be signed by Boyd, Fidler, Sentilles, and Watkins. Framed editions are also available for an additional cost. A smaller printed version of the poster will be sent to those who donate 46 dollars.
CLICK HERE to donate and receive your poster!
Let there be feasting. Let there be singing. Let there be good.
Let there be only good. Let there be no reason to look away.
“The idea was to capture the transformative power of words and images, and to remind people the world is made and can be unmade and remade,” Sentilles said. “If we can imagine a more just and life-giving world, we can work together to bring it into being.”
The project was a collaborative effort. Artist Anna Fidler painted three different alphabets, working to capture the spirit of Sentilles’s writing. “Through this project I learned to see words as passageways—tools for seeing the world differently,” Fidler said. “My goal was to make an ‘energy portrait’ of Sarah’s words—each hand-painted letter is a symbol, a message, a feeling. My deepest wish is for the viewer to experience this energy.”
Let there be no wailing. Let there be music. Let there be people
rushing out of houses to dance together in the streets.
Artist Heather Watkins then transformed Fidler’s hand painted words into a digital design. And artist Mika Aono Boyd screen printed the limited series of one hundred images. “These words are so powerful,” Boyd said. “When an edition is pulled by hand, I touch every paper, spend time with every stroke of squeegee, and pour myself into every bit of ink. I’m so grateful I had a chance to be a part of this project.”
Let there be no war. Let there be no battles on the whole globe.
Let there be weapons laid down and never lifted.
“I loved the collaborative nature of this project,” Watkins said. “In a sense, we worked like a relay team—beginning with Sarah’s powerful writing, which Anna transformed into bold and dynamic hand-painted words. The final poster that I composed and that Mika printed so beautifully is embedded with our collective hope and investment in a better world.”
Let there be stories. Let there be memos that explain how to love.
Let there be people gathered.
The first one hundred people to donate $1,000—five hundred to benefit The Alliance and five hundred to benefit Lee Pesky Learning Center—will receive one of the limited series of 100 posters and a copy of Draw Your Weapons. Each poster measures 30 inches by 22 inches and will be signed by Boyd, Fidler, Sentilles, and Watkins. Framed editions are also available for an additional cost. A smaller printed version of the poster will be sent to those who donate 46 dollars.
