Yakima Artists Unite to Create Community Peace Pole at Rotary Marketplace, Yakima, Washington State, USA.

March 3, 2026

The air smells faintly of sawdust in a tidy workshop in Yakima.

In the center of the room, the base of a wooden pole is carved with patterns, shapes and letters that spiral through the grain. Some sections are smooth and finished. Others still have a rough texture of fresh carving.

Soon, painted panels will fill the spaces, each created by a different local artist with a message of peace.

When it is complete, the piece will stand beneath the covered entrance of the Rotary Marketplace in downtown Yakima.

The Yakima Rotary Peace Pole carries a simple message carved in 10 languages: “May Peace Prevail On Earth.”

The phrase traces back to the vision of Masahisa Goi, a Japanese poet and philosopher who created the first peace pole in 1955. His idea eventually grew into the International Peace Pole Project, with more than 200,000 poles installed around the world.

Most are simple wooden posts bearing the phrase in several languages.

Yakima’s will be something different.

The Rotary Peace Pole hangs from the ceiling while being painted Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Yakima, Wash.

Evan Abell / Yakima Herald-Republic

From one idea to many hands.

The project began with a conversation about creating a peace pole for Yakima through Rotary. The idea quickly made its way to local artists.

Woodworkers John Barany, Doug Lewis and Randal Leek began shaping what the project might become.

Their starting point was a Russian olive tree cut from a creekside property in the valley.

“We went looking for the straightest piece we could find,” Barany said with a smile. “That might be the straightest Russian olive in Yakima County.”

The log was hauled to Barany’s yard, where it sat for months while the artists worked through ideas.

Early on, they knew they didn’t want a simple post.

“We didn’t want a four-by-four,” Barany said. “If Yakima was going to do this, it should be something special.”

The concept slowly grew beyond the original plan, and additional artists were invited to take part. Each artist would create on a positive or negative space panel carved into the wood, offering their own interpretation of peace.

In the end, 14 artists joined the project: Leo Adams, Betsy Bloomfield, Mindy Clark, W.D. Frank, Ana Li Gresham, Cheryl H. Hahn, Susan Hahn, Dawson Lapsley, Pat Miller, Karen Miller, Elizabeth Montes de Oca, Darcie Roberts, Krista Schoening and Laura Wise.

Each panel is a different shape. None of them are square.

“We wanted it to feel organic,” Barany said. “Nothing about this pole is perfectly straight.
SARA RAE SHIELDS Yakima Herald-Republic