The World Peace Through Technology Organization is an educational non-profit dedicated to inspiring and educating people about peace. By raising awareness and knowledge of each other we are promoting global harmony and peace.
The WPTTO is actively involved with promoting STEAM education, and providing it to the students of Vallejo, CA, the most educationally under-served community in California. The WPTTO explores ways to integrate art, music, games, and fun activities to enhance learning and promote cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.
The Peace Tour concept was formulated in 1996 by travel author Brad Olsen (CCC Publishing) and video animation producer Michael O’Rourke (Dimension 7) as a necessary tool in taking benevolent technologies directly to the other side of the digital divide. The World Peace Through Technology Organization was formed in the year 2000 in San Francisco. Soon after that, a fundraiser was held on the block outside of the WPTTO headquarters on Howard Street, called the How Weird Street Faire. 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the WPTTO’s annual benefit and most visible peace project.
The How Weird Street Faire is the WPTTO’s annual event in San Francisco, now with over 20,000 participants. It is a celebration of peace, and an attempt to create peace in practice. The street faire brings together a very wide range of styles and unique cultures. This has enabled an extremely diverse cross-section of participants to connect with each other, while appreciating that our similarities are far greater than our differences. There have also been talks and workshops at the faire, on various topics related to peace. In 2007, a Peace Game was introduced at the faire. The game required assembling four different stickers that were handed out throughout the faire to see the complete peace artwork, encouraging people to work together for a common goal while valuing diversity.
Music and art can inspire peace, and transcend cultural, religious, and political differences. We need things that can bring people together and find common interests, and art does this best.