By Charles Runnells
crunnells@news-press.com
Originally posted on April 06, 2006
Four years and six countries later, Lee County's peace marker project now has a well-known ambassador to spread the message of peace and art throughout the world.

Cape Coral officials installed famous flutist Kat Epple of North Fort Myers as an ambassador for the Worldwide Peace Marker Project, which began in the Cape in 2002. The project was created by Epple's friend, artist Tiite Baquero of Cape Coral.

Tiite and other people involved with the project hope to eventually have one of the stainless steel cylinders in 198 countries of the world.
They've already got them in six countries, including Germany, Bosnia and Turkey.

Tiite, who usually only goes by Tiite, sees the project as more than just a symbol for peace. It has the potential to change the way people think and perhaps separate the concept of peace from its defining opposite, war.
"It's something that underlines the idea of peace," he said. "It's a basic model of the aesthetic of peace, so it can be created as a factual, tangible experience."

Tiite calls the monuments "points of peace" that can be plotted on a global map. Once they're all out there, the markers will make up one large piece of global art.

Epple — an eight-time Emmy Award-winning composer and flutist — said she was thrilled to be part of the project. It fits perfectly with her job, she said, since she often travels throughout the world to perform.
"It's just such a great concept," she said. "These monuments are small, but they're significant.

"Throughout the world, there are so many war memorials. You have to have some balance and have something representing peace."
Tiite's first peace marker was dedicated beneath the Rubicond bird sculpture at the Cape Coral Arts Studio on Coronado Parkway.

Tiite hopes to have ambassadors from every country where a peace marker exists, but he said he wanted to wait until the project was established before getting a U.S. one. The project is much bigger than just the United States, he said.

Tiite, a well-known artist who originally came from Colombia, works with other artists in each country to find a home for the markers. He's already talking with artists in countries such as Lebanon, Israel and Angola.
He works with artists in each country to find a place for a peace marker.

Each marker is topped with a silver peace coin with a picture of the globe and the words "World Peace."
Cape Mayor Eric Feichthaler oversaw the installation of Epple Wednesday as ambassador.

"I really think his efforts to promote world peace with this marker project are commendable and very ambitious, to say the least," he said. "But it looks like he's having real success in that."

Feichthaler said he's committed to having the monument in Cape Coral, and council is considering moving it to the City Hall complex or somewhere else where it will get more exposure.
"I'm very much in favor of what he's doing," he said.

• Ft. Myers News Press  Article
• Press Release for Kat's installation as US Amabassador
• World Peace Marker Project Main Page