After seeing Christo's "The Gates" installation, we decided that we wanted to create a similar gateway for the students to walk through. It needed to be sturdy, strong, and tall enough so that the students wouldn't try to hang off of them.

We chose to make the structures out of PVC pipe and PVC 90 degree connectors. They were quite easy to construct. Getting them to stand upright was another matter. Luckily, we had the construction advice and help of Mike McMillan - Mike used rebar and cable ties to secure the PVC pipe and hold it upright, nice and sturdy!

We constructed 8 of these "gates" and attached streamers to them. The streamers had peace quotes written on them (permanent marker). Another time, we attached "peace flags" to the structure. One year, we attached peace bells, inspired by "Bens Bells."

No matter what is attached to the structures, the fact that something that large appears on our school campus almost overnight simply amazes the students! It's very impressive!