Columbia University New York, N.Y. 10027 Office of Public Information (212) 854-5573
Columbia University will dedicate and consecrate the George Nakashima Peace Altar in St. Paul's Chapel on its Morningside Heights campus Wednesday, October 18, at 4:30 P.M.
The altar, a gift of Professor and Mrs. Wm. Theodore deBary, will commemorate those Columbians who have died in the service of their country.
It will also recognize the contributions to Columbia of the late noted designer and woodworker George Nakashima, who created it.
A Japanese-American from Seattle, who graduated from M.I.T. with an M. Arch. in 1930, Mr. Nakashima made furniture that is now in the Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the United Nations.
After graduation he spent the next 12 years in the practical study of Asian art, architecture and religion in India. He carried on his artistic work while interned during World War II with other Japanese-Americans in a camp in Idaho. Upon his release in 1945, he set up a workshop in New Hope, Pa., where he did most of his renowned arts and crafts. His furniture in Columbia's Heyman Center is some of his finest work in an ecumenical and multicultural setting. His first commission at Columbia was the design and furnishing of the Student and Faculty Lounge in Kent Hall in 1962.
The altar is the first step in a celebration of peace, as intended by Nakashima. It was completed by the Nakashima Studio, based on designs and material prepared by the artist before his death in 1991.
Installed in the south transept of the Chapel, it is made of polished oak from the base of a tree, its surface a large oval. On the wall behind it bronze plaques will be mounted bearing the names of Columbia's war dead from 20th-Century conflicts. Next spring the plaques will be dedicated in a special ceremony in the Chapel.
Nakashima combined the best of American and Japanese cultures in his art, offering an early example of multiculturalism. As a Christian he also engaged in a study of Asian religions and philosophies. His architectural designs and monumental furniture pieces combined elements from several religions and aesthetic traditions.
Speaking at the dedication will be Columbia President George Rupp, Provost Jonathan Cole, Trustee Emeritus Edward Costikyan and Dr. deBary, the John Mitchell Mason Professor Emeritus and former Provost of Columbia. Representing the Nakashima family will be his widow, Marion, and their daughter, Mira.
The Peace Altar will be consecrated by Christopher Maloney, Columbia's Catholic chaplain, and H. Scott Matheney, acting director of the Earl Hall Center and St. Paul's Chapel.
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