‘Peace Day’ Dedication for Conrad Work
A mushroom cloud sculpture by Times political cartoonist Paul Conrad will be dedicated on Saturday during a “Peace Day” festival at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
The free event will feature Japanese dancers and speeches by Conrad and Kaz Suyeishi, a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima.
Suyeishi will also present a peace flame from the Hiroshima Memorial in Japan to the city of Santa Monica.
Conrad’s 26-foot-high artwork, called “Chain Reaction,” depicts the mushroom cloud that fills the sky when an atomic bomb is dropped. It sits on the Civic Center lawn, just south of the Santa Monica Courthouse.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist has said his sculpture is a peace statement, a reminder of the horror of nuclear war and the necessity of avoiding it.
Other dance groups that will perform are the multiethnic UCLA Modern Dancers and Grupo Folklorico.
The dance groups were chosen to remember Hiroshima and to symbolize the bridging of all cultures after the recent unrest in Los Angeles.
The festival will be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Civic Center at 1855 Main St. in Santa Monica. Parking is free.
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