UNM community members who feel they’ve made the world a more peaceful place should consider nominating themselves for the Paul Ré Peace Prize.
Candidates must be UNM students, faculty, staff members or retirees, and their work should promote or demonstrate their commitment to inner and global serenity, Ré said.
“Peace is just a kind of health … a mental and emotional and spiritual health. We’re talking about the promotion of harmony in the world,” Ré said. “My peace prize is a very diverse, wide spectrum. All persons in all disciplines are eligible for it. I think it’s only when everyone contributes in some way that we can have peace.”
Ré said he created the prize in 2008 to assist others who work to promote tranquility throughout the world in their own field or area of study. Ré, a local artist and peace advocate, said he’s dedicated his life to encouraging a peaceful lifestyle for all.
Nomination forms can be found on Ré’s Web site and should be sent to prize administrator Belinda Jentzen, the development officer in the College of Fine Arts. A short essay describing the candidate’s qualifications, a resume and a letter of recommendation must also be submitted. Other supporting material, such as articles, poetry or photographs may also be included.
Nominations are accepted until March 31.
Recipients can be awarded up to $4,000, he said. The recipient will also be presented with a custom piece of art done by Ré and a signed copy of the Dance of the Pencil, a book full of his artwork and their descriptions.
The award money comes from an endowment created by Ré with the University Foundation, said Jentzen.
“Paul has an interesting philosophy about how the idea of peace interacts with how he creates art and how his art reflects his desire for peace in the world. He’s dedicated his life to this,” said Jentzen. “Paul set this up with his own resources.”
The stipend will support the beneficiary’s continued work in peaceful conflict prevention and the recipient will be honored in May. This is the second time the fund will be awarded, as Dr. Stephen Littlejohn received the grand prize in 2008.
An adjunct professor in the department of communications and journalism, Littlejohn was honored for his work in helping others manage their decisions in a peaceful manner by acting as a neutral third party.
“I had done some dialog work in Indonesia, in a conflict zone there,” he said. “I continue to do the same work. I’ll be going to Brazil in February to train mediators … I work in the United States and abroad to do various kinds of mediation work.”
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Littlejohn used some of the money to support a local high school student’s bike trip through Argentina, he said.
Ré said he hopes to see nominees whom advocate for a number of causes, such as social justice and environmental concerns. The prize is structured around a vision statement by which Ré lives his life — encouragement and preservation of the good in life, according to his Web site.
*Paul Ré Peace Prize
www.paulre.org
Nomination deadline: March 31*
