On September 13, 2025, Pathways to Peace honored Fran as part of their Exceptional Women of Peace Program. Here is her address to the assembed honoress and global supporters and friends.
Wherever we’re connecting from, good morning, good afternoon, good evening!
Pathways to Peace, thank you for honoring me with the Building Peace through Art Award. Congratulations to all the honorees. I extend such gratitude for your profound and purposeful peace work.
I’m Fran Tarr, artist, poet, arts educator, and Executive Director & Founder of Breaking Walls.
Our vision ignites the growth of art and peace-building skills among diverse groups of young people worldwide. These young artists, aged 11 to 30, create authentic, truth-telling works of literary, visual, and vocal art, as well as instrumental music, dance, and devised ensemble theater performances.
To achieve this vision, we stand firmly on three pillars of peace: CONNECT, CREATE, CHANGE.
PILLAR ONE – CONNECT – Our artists share their diverse cultural, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds by letting down their walls. Openly interacting and actively listening to one another without bias effectively building a bridge between their individual life experiences and stories.
PILLAR TWO – CREATE – By creating art together, Breaking Walls artists learn about themselves and their global peers, helping them see themselves as part of a larger world. Their ability to connect creatively across borders, their resilience, and shared trust for a brighter future inspire each other and the global community.
The process of speaking their truth as a one-for-all, all-for-one ensemble through rehearsing, to pre-performance jitters, and the spine-tingling, exhilaration of an audience’s teary eyes and thunderous applause response with fellow artists who were strangers a few days earlier is eye-opening, leading to lifelong friendships and support.
PILLAR THREE – CHANGE –
While the ensemble performance showcases diverse voices and cultures coming together, the process of building this creative and fair community is a vital pillar that supports Breaking Walls’ vision.
Our borderless connection, collaboration, and transformative creativity, combined with chit-chat over lunch and during cultural explorations, is a replicable model for a world that defines peace as we do – mutual openness and respect.
That Pathways to Peace trusts me to be a vessel for peace-creation is humbling and inspiring.
Humbling, to stand shoulder to shoulder with women who own their value and use it to empower others, empowers me to own that Building Peace through Art is a mighty force.
It is inspiring to hear your words of passion, vision, and trust in the future ripple across angry voices, barren cityscapes, flimsy tents, the halls of power, and vibrant classrooms. You calm the moment, brighten the horizon, and shape a path forward to a culture of peace today and tomorrow. Enabling each of us to stand taller and more secure in our pursuit of equity, truth-telling, and acceptance.
Thank you again, Pathways to Peace, Ambassador Chowdury, and the Culture of Peace, for your vision. Bless you!