Fairfield-Echo.com

FAIRFIELD — What started out as the presentation of a play has turned into a full-blown cultural festival at the Fairfield Community Arts Center.

For the performing arts season, FCAC executive director Heidi Schiller booked a date with ArtReach, the touring program of Cincinnati Children's Theatre, to present "A Thousand Cranes," the true story of a young girl's experience in the aftermath of Hiroshima.

The script was written by Katherine Schultz-Miller, the founder of the ArtReach, according to director Kelly Germain.

"It's performed by an ensemble of four actors," Germain said. "We want people to go away with a mission of peace and a realization of the effects of war on everyone."

After booking the date, Schiller thought it would be a good idea to have a program teaching children how to fold a crane and to time how long it took so they could figure out how long it took the character in "A Thousand Cranes" to accomplish that task.

The thought turned into a daylong event and a partnership with the Japan America Society of Great Cincinnati, which organized the activities.

In addition to the creation of an origami crane, visitors to the Culture Fair can receive instruction in the art of shodo or Japanese calligraphy or attend a tea tasting, a demonstration of proper layering of a Japanese kimono, Japanese music, and more.

The Culture Fair will also feature an exhibit of images, artwork and poetry regarding the Aug. 6, 1945, bombing of Hiroshima, on loan from the national organization, FootPrints for Peace.

The Art Center's goal in partnering with the Japan America Society is to create a unique experience that will expand knowledge of Japanese culture and deepen participants' understanding of the harmony and creativity integrated throughout Japan's historic culture, Schiller said.

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