Tony Quinlivan, a Kooringal Rotarian, founded the Peace Community movement in Wagga in the 1990s. Wagga became the first Peace Community on 23 February 1993. Since then, 60 Peace Communities have been proclaimed in 19 countries around the globe.

The Rotary Club of Parkes won the Rotary District 9700 peace prize in 2011 for, amongst other things, the work of a team that visited Fiji to construct housing for marginalised and displaced low-income earners in Koroipita Village near Lautoka.

Then on 22 May 2012 the International President of Rotary, Kalyan Banerjee, visited Parkes to declare the town a Peace Community and dedicate a plaque at the Rotary Arboretum site at the corner of Bushman and East Streets. Developments at the Arboretum led to a review of the Peace Precinct. The original plaque has been relocated and local artists, including Indigenous artists, have installed dendroglyphs that carry messages about peace. Rotarians hope that the Precinct will become a focus for peace activities into the future.

Gawaymbanha-gu Wiradjuri Ngurambang
Welcome to Wiradjuri Country

Gawaymbanha-gu biyambul mayiny-galang
Welcome to all peoples

Yindyamarra biyambul mayiny-galang
Respect all peoples

Gulbalanha ngiyanhigindyidhuray
Peace with us all

The Peace Precinct’s landform, vegetation, installation and signage are all part of the artwork and those who contributed are the artists.

The intent is for the park to be organic, to deliver and change with the light, weather and seasons. The natural sounds of birds, branches dropping and wind moving through the installation are all part of the artwork. Any future works would seek to be in harmony with the land and existing installation.

The idea of having the five dendroglyphs making up the installation, is to illustrate that peace is not achieved by a single act, but requires the co-operation of many to achieve a common goal.

Principle artists involved, Sean-James Cassidy, Scott Sauce Towney and Scott Turnbull have worked together since 2008 to have art recognised as a language and to champion the importance of giving people a voice.

The collaboration among the artists, with support from family and friends, allowed them to engage in open discussion and transference of ideas in order to create a common vision from their diverse backgrounds. They have worked to raise the profile of the Wiradjuri iconography and its significance in the world.

Local Wiradjuri language teacher Lionel Lovett and sound engineer Jason Murchie have worked together to create songs intertwining language and the use of natural sounds, which have also influenced the concept of the Peace Park.

Three other artists recognised for their specific knowledge and sensitivity to the natural surroundings are Steve McGrath (wood), Derek Hoe (rock), and Liz Briton (water and vegetation).

Carvings on the dendroglyphs are iconographies transferred from Towney and Turnbull’s previous drawings, paintings and pyrographics. These carvings celebrate the marks in nature, the grain in wood, the ripples in water and the aerial views of the land formations. The work also pays homage to the scarred trees (dendroglyphs) on Wiradjuri land and the ancestors who made them.

The artists have worked with the rhythm of nature.

The five dendroglyphs are carved with Wiradjuri iconography. Reconciliation with Australia’s First Peoples is a priority acknowledged by the Peace Precinct. Metal art works are installed on the first two dendroglyphs along with the word “PEACE” (GULBALANHA in Wiradjuri). Then each dendroglyph has a plaque that carries a theme.

The artworks stand for peace, respect and value diversity, acknowledge the past, strong families strong community, and Yindymarra Winhanganha. They should remind us that respect, rejection of violence, resolution, reconciliation and freedom contribute to a state of peace.

Rotary Dendroglyph

The overall art installation was conceived and implemented by local artist Sean James Cassidy. Wiradjuri content is by artists Scott Sauce Towney and Scott Turnbull. The dendroglyphs were mounted and installed on site by Rotarian Tim McCabe (G C McCabe & Co. Pty Ltd).

The main work carries a peace dove and the Peace Communities Credo. The original dedication plaque is now situated on a stone near the main dendroglyph.

First People's Dendroglyph

Four of the five pillars are positioned along the natural curve of a dry creek bed, representing four music notes. Together they make a harmony - and harmony is what the peace precinct is all about.

This second dendroglyph is located across from the main work. The main dendroglyph says ‘PEACE’ and the First Peoples dendroglyph seems to reply ‘GULBALANHA’, ‘peace’ in the Wiradjuri language. The plaque carries the words ‘Yindymarra Winhanganha’ - a Wiradjuri phrase meaning “respect and learning through listening and thinking”.

Newcomer's Dendroglyph

The plaque on the newcomers dendroglyph says “respect and value diversity”.

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) we are now witnessing the highest levels of displacement of people on record. According to the UNHCR (2017) nearly 20 people are forcibly displaced every minute as a result of conflict or persecution.

In addition to refugees, newcomers are a constant feature of thriving Australian communities. People move into communities in pursuit of work, to educate children, for lifestyle. When someone “new” arrives that looks different, speaks another language, comes from another culture, or eats different food, suspicion is perhaps a natural reaction. The newcomers dendroglyph challenges us to walk in the shoes of newcomers, to take the time to reach out and talk to them, to help them integrate into our community.

History Dendroglyph

The plaque on the history dendroglyph says “acknowledge the past”.

History records the past, but history is never just a collection of facts. History is never value free.

This dendroglyph invites us to think about all the things that have contributed to the Parkes community as it is today: the long history of the First Peoples; the explorers and settlers; the convicts, the farmers, the discovery of gold; the development of rail transport; the building of the radio telescope for astronomy and space exploration.

The Families Dendroglyph

The plaque on the families dendroglyph says “Strong families, strong community”.

Those words emerged from Rotarians talking with the Parkes Language Group. The Language Group consists of teachers and others interested in the development of the Wiradjuri language. They meet weekly to exchange ideas and to develop language skills. The Wiradjuri language is taught in Parkes primary schools to all students, not only Indigenous students. The effect, teachers say, has been to promote knowledge of Australia’s First Peoples and their culture and thereby encourage tolerance and promote peace within school communities.