About Million Birds of Hope

The concept for Million Birds of Hope began in 2010 when a friend of artist Aaron A. Harrison passed away at a young age. Wanting to honor his friend, Harrison began experimenting with creating origami cranes made from porcelain. Driven by the Japanese legend of “a thousand paper cranes”, Harrison then went on to create an installation of 1000 slip cast birds. Birds began to show up on his mugs, planters and other forms. Eventually the birdie yarn bowl was born and went on to sell thousands. Along with the retail sale of birds, Harrison, now operating under his ceramics business-aaharrison ceramics-partnered with global charity World Vision to sell birds to raise money for women and girls in need around the world. This was the official launch of Million Birds of Hope. The campaign lasted about two years and eventually faded out when Harrison moved his family and studio to Houghton, NY to teach art at Houghton University.

Now the campaign is back and reimagined. How inspiring would art be if you could actually take part in it? How uplifting would art be if you could own a part of it for free? Million Birds of Hope is doing just that. Aaron Harrison strives to give away one million ceramic birds in an effort to promote peace, love, joy, and above all…hope. The goal is to showcase Million Birds of Hope installations around the United States, and possibly the world, and give away birds to any visitor willing to take a piece of the art.

Imagine what a Million Birds of Hope can do for you, your community, your world.