29 Pieces

The seeds of 29 Pieces were planted with a bullet, the bullet that murdered a man in front of Karen Blessen's house.

A Pulitzer prize winning journalist and illustrator, Karen reacted to the tragedy using the tools of her profession. The result was a piece that she wrote and illustrated for the Dallas Morning News, exploring the act of violence and tracing the path of its impact on the victim's family, the killer's family, the law enforcement community and the community at large.

Karen soon realized that telling the story wasn't the end of her responsibility; it was the beginning. She had to act to help keep the narrative from repeating itself over and over.

Once again, she turned to a tool she knew—art—with hopes of using its power as a catalyst for peace. Engaging, involving and inspiring our community's youth to learn, share and live the lessons of peace became the unifying goal of the organization known as 29 Pieces.

Since its inception in 2005, 29 Pieces has grown in number and impact. Our workshops and classroom curricula have helped tens of thousands of students and adults develop their creativity and their love of peace. Our Dallas Love project used art to turn the city-of-hate perception upside down during the Kennedy assassination's 50th anniversary year. Our Piece 24 project united a coalition of business leaders, community leaders and local schools to help students create a 17-foot sculpture—a monument to peace that will have a permanent place within the community.

What all 29 Pieces efforts have in common is the use of art as the power source for beating swords into plowshares and planting new seeds of peace. It's not easy. It takes a lot of volunteers and supporters to make it work. But it is working. We see the new green sprouts. And while nothing we do will right the wrong of the murder that started this process, we can change what happens next.