MIll to Mill Peace Flag Project 2026

Creatively share your personal expression of peace by participating in this crowd-sourced exhibit symbolically connecting our two museums.

The Red Mill Museum Village and the Hunterdon Art Museum invite community members to participate in the Mill to Mill Peace Flag Project, a public art display of handmade peace flags that will represent a shared expression of hope, unity and goodwill. Community members are asked to create peace flags that will be displayed together across the bridge linking the two museums. Inspired by traditional prayer flags, each piece reflects the maker’s personal interpretation of the question:

“What does peace look like to you?”

Through symbols, colors, words, images or textures, every flag becomes a message of peace carried outward into the world. This project carries three core values:

Sharing Intentions: The wind helps carry our hopes for peace to all beings.

Reflection: Making a flag is a moment to consider what peace means personally and collectively.

Unity: When hung together, the flags create a visible expression of community harmony—many voices aligned toward peace.

The Mill to Mill Peace Flag Project is part of Handwork 2026, Craft in America's nationwide semiquincentennial collaboration showcasing the importance of the handmade and celebrating the diversity of craft that defines America.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

STEP ONE: REVIEW RULES

Review the guidelines below to understand the size and material requirements and limitations.

Download a PDF of the guidelines to print or share.

DOWNLOAD FLAG MAKING GUIDELINES

STEP TWO: MAKE FLAGS

Make your flag (or flags) at home OR

Hold a flag-making event with friends, neighbors or community groups such as clubs, guilds, churches, scout troops, etc. OR

Make a flag at one of the flag-making events sponsored by the Red Mill Museum Village & The Hunterdon Art Museum.

DOWNLOAD THE PROJECT FLYER TO PRINT & SHARE

STEP THREE: REGISTER & SUBMIT

Complete the digital entry form (if you would like your flag to be included in the digital exhibit)

The digital entry form requires a well-lit photograph of your flag with a plain, white background. The photo should be 1:1 aspect ratio, square (1080px x 1080px) in a jpg file format, no larger than 100KB.

This photo will be used along with the details you provide to create the digital exhibit of this project.

There is no limit to the number of flags an individual or group can submit; however, there must be a separate registration for each flag.

Print out the confirmation email you receive for each flag you register and pin to each flag.

Mail or hand-deliver your registered flags (packages should be marked ATTN: Peace Flags) by May 15th, 2026 to either museum:

Hunterdon Art Museum, 7 Lower Center Street, Clinton, NJ 08809

Red Mill Museum Village 56 Main Street, Clinton NJ 08809

Submission Deadline is May 15, 2026.

The Peace Flag Project will open on June 14th and

remain on display continuously through the end of August.

LINK TO PEACE FLAG PROJECT DIGITAL ENTRY FORM

FLAG MAKING GUIDELINES

How to Make a Peace Flag

Each flag begins with a piece 9 x 10.5" of natural fabric (materials like cotton muslin, linen or wool are ideal) made into a 9x9" flag with a 1" channel for hanging.

To prepare your fabric:

Cut your fabric to 9” wide x 10.5” tall.
Fold down the top 1.5” to create a 1” channel.
Sew the fold in place. This channel allows the flags to be strung together like bunting.

Traditional peace flags often have raw edges, allowing them to gently fray as they weather. If you prefer finished edges, you may add seam allowance or use binding.

Decoration & Design

Your peace flag can be expressed in any textile or fiber art method, including:

Fabric markers, painting, stamping or natural dyes

Embroidery, quilting, needlework, applique

Weaving, knitting, crocheting

Adding natural materials and embellishments that can be safely returned to the earth

Appropriate Materials

Because the flags will hang outdoors and may eventually release fibers into the environment, only natural materials should be used. Please avoid glues (including hot glue), staples, plastics, synthetics and chemical inks. Use natural threads and non-toxic, water-based dyes and paints whenever possible.

Guiding Principle: Do not use anything you would not want in your river or drinking water.

Meaning & Purpose

Peace flags are intended to weather and change over time. As the sun, wind and rain touch them, their fibers slowly soften and fray. This natural aging symbolizes the release of the intentions, blessings and prayers embedded in the making.

The project carries three core values:

Sharing Intentions: The wind helps carry our hopes for peace to all beings.

Reflection: Making a flag is a moment to consider what peace means personally and collectively.

Unity: When hung together, the flags create a visible expression of community harmony—many voices aligned toward peace.

The Mill to Mill Peace Flag Project emphasizes craft, community and care for the land and river. Each flag becomes part of a larger conversation about peace—rooted in handwork, shared space and the natural world.

EXAMPLES

Peace Flags will be added to this site to create a digital display that will be viewable from anywhere

even after the exhibit on the bridge is taken down.

By Robbie-Lynn Mwangi of M2M Textile Fellowship, Clinton, NJ

Sheep May Safely Graze

"The aria ""Sheep May Safely Graze"" by J.S. Bach is one of my favorite pieces of music. I often choose to listen to it when I am crafting. I find it very comforting to think of the Shepherd, a common symbol in my faith tradition, keeping watch while the sheep in his care are going about their lives.

This flag is made with non-toxic fabric markers on muslin."

By Gina Sampaio of Lebanon Township, New Jersey

Building Bridges

When musing on the question, “What does peace look like to you?” my mind turned to the ideas of finding commonality and strengthening relationships. The Peace Flag project is exciting to me because its mere existence does just that for the Red Mill Museum Village and the Hunterdon Art Museum, both literally and symbolically.

I chose to represent my answer by writing the flag’s title on scraps of fabric which represent the existing bridge (yellow) and the Peace Flag project (flags). This flag was made on a muslin base with reused supplies: fabric scraps from my home stash sewn on with my (second-hand) sewing machine with cotton thread from the art supply thrift shop, where the fabric markers also came from.

More Examples Coming Soon

CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

This is a curated exhibit. Submission does not guarantee inclusion in the final project.

The Hunterdon Art Museum and the Red Mill Museum Village reserve the right to reproduce any work accepted for the display for use in marketing and public relations efforts.

The Mill to Mill Peace Flag Project will be on view from June through August of 2026 and will naturally weather or deteriorate due to the outdoor location of the display. Flags submitted to the project will become the property of the museums and will not be returned to the makers/artists even if they are not included in the final project.

Project Calendar

Deadline for Submissions: May 15

Installation of Flags: June 1 – 12

Exhibit Opening: June 14

Exhibition/Viewing Dates: June 14 - August 30

Deinstallation: August 31 - September 1

For more information contact info@hunterdonartmuseum.org or educator@theredmill.org

Flag Making Events

A variety of free and fee-based flag-making workshops will be offered by both museums

Saturday, March 7th

Fee-based, adults, registration required

M2M: Radical Embroidery Workshop at the Hunterdon Art Museum: Time 1-4 pm

Sunday, March 22nd

Fee-based, adults, registration required

M2M: Shibori Workshop at the Hunterdon Art Museum: Time TBA

Saturday, March 28th

Free, all ages, materials provided

New Jersey Makers' Day at the North Branch Library on Halstead Street: Time TBA

Saturday, April 25th

Free with event admission (free for current RMMV members), all ages, materials provided

Red Mill Museum Village, Hands-On-History: Traditional Crafts Festival: 12- 4 pm

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Creatively share your personal expression of peace by participating in this crowd-sourced exhibit symbolically connecting our two museums.

“What does peace look like to you?”

Through symbols, colors, words, images or textures, every flag becomes a message of peace carried outward into the world. This project carries three core values:

Sharing Intentions: The wind helps carry our hopes for peace to all beings.

Reflection: Making a flag is a moment to consider what peace means personally and collectively.

Unity: When hung together, the flags create a visible expression of community harmony—many voices aligned toward peace.

The Mill to Mill Peace Flag Project is part of Handwork 2026, Craft in America's nationwide semiquincentennial collaboration showcasing the importance of the handmade and celebrating the diversity of craft that defines America.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

STEP ONE: REVIEW RULES

Review the guidelines below to understand the size and material requirements and limitations.

Download a PDF of the guidelines to print or share.

STEP TWO: MAKE FLAGS

Make your flag (or flags) at home OR

Hold a flag-making event with friends, neighbors or community groups such as clubs, guilds, churches, scout troops, etc. OR

Make a flag at one of the flag-making events sponsored by the Red Mill Museum Village & The Hunterdon Art Museum.

STEP THREE: REGISTER & SUBMIT

Complete the digital entry form (if you would like your flag to be included in the digital exhibit)

The digital entry form requires a well-lit photograph of your flag with a plain, white background. The photo should be 1:1 aspect ratio, square (1080px x 1080px) in a jpg file format, no larger than 100KB.

This photo will be used along with the details you provide to create the digital exhibit of this project.

There is no limit to the number of flags an individual or group can submit; however, there must be a separate registration for each flag.

Print out the confirmation email you receive for each flag you register and pin to each flag.

Mail or hand-deliver your registered flags (packages should be marked ATTN: Peace Flags) by May 15th, 2026 to either museum:

Hunterdon Art Museum, 7 Lower Center Street, Clinton, NJ 08809

Red Mill Museum Village 56 Main Street, Clinton NJ 08809

Submission Deadline is May 15, 2026.

The Peace Flag Project will open on June 14th and

remain on display continuously through the end of August.

FLAG MAKING GUIDELINES

How to Make a Peace Flag

Each flag begins with a piece 9 x 10.5" of natural fabric (materials like cotton muslin, linen or wool are ideal) made into a 9x9" flag with a 1" channel for hanging.

To prepare your fabric:

Cut your fabric to 9” wide x 10.5” tall.

Fold down the top 1.5” to create a 1” channel.

Sew the fold in place. This channel allows the flags to be strung together like bunting.

Traditional peace flags often have raw edges, allowing them to gently fray as they weather. If you prefer finished edges, you may add seam allowance or use binding.

Decoration & Design

Your peace flag can be expressed in any textile or fiber art method, including:

Fabric markers, painting, stamping or natural dyes

Embroidery, quilting, needlework, applique

Weaving, knitting, crocheting

Adding natural materials and embellishments that can be safely returned to the earth

Appropriate Materials

Guiding Principle: Do not use anything you would not want in your river or drinking water.

Meaning & Purpose

Peace flags are intended to weather and change over time. As the sun, wind and rain touch them, their fibers slowly soften and fray. This natural aging symbolizes the release of the intentions, blessings and prayers embedded in the making.

The project carries three core values:

Sharing Intentions: The wind helps carry our hopes for peace to all beings.

Reflection: Making a flag is a moment to consider what peace means personally and collectively.

Unity: When hung together, the flags create a visible expression of community harmony—many voices aligned toward peace.

The Mill to Mill Peace Flag Project emphasizes craft, community and care for the land and river. Each flag becomes part of a larger conversation about peace—rooted in handwork, shared space and the natural world.

CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

This is a curated exhibit. Submission does not guarantee inclusion in the final project.

The Hunterdon Art Museum and the Red Mill Museum Village reserve the right to reproduce any work accepted for the display for use in marketing and public relations efforts.

Project Calendar

Deadline for Submissions: May 15

Installation of Flags: June 1 – 12

Exhibit Opening: June 14

Exhibition/Viewing Dates: June 14 - August 30

Deinstallation: August 31 - September 1

For more information contact info@hunterdonartmuseum.org or educator@theredmill.org

Flag Making Events

The digital entry form requires a well-lit photograph of your flag with a plain, white background. The photo should be 1:1 aspect ratio, square (1080px x 1080px) in a jpg file format, no larger than 100KB.