For decades, the multidisciplinary artist and activist Yoko Ono has created works that invite audiences to think about peace. In 1969, in response to the Vietnam War, Ono and John Lennon launched the campaign WAR IS OVER! (if you want it). In subsequent decades, Ono has spread this message as well as others—including “Imagine Peace”—via a multitude of formats, from billboards and advertisements to postcards, clothing, and online platforms. In Ono’s words, “Imagining is something that we can all do, even when we have different opinions about how to get there.”
This installation extends the artist’s sustained history of collaborations with the Museum, which include PEACE is POWER, a 2019 commission that similarly expressed her peace activism. The current installation coincides with a related work titled THINK PEACE, ACT PEACE, SPREAD PEACE, IMAGINE PEACE, presented by the Museum at John F. Kennedy International Airport’s Terminal 6, where it opens in fall 2026.
Organized by Alison Burstein, The Sue and Eugene Mercy, Jr. Assistant Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints, with Lydia Mullin, Manager of Collection Galleries, Curatorial Affairs, and Elizabeth Wickham, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture.