PORTSMOUTH, NH.- The NH Art Association has announced a juried art competition, "The Art of Peace" with honorary co-chairpersons Dr. Susan Lynch (NH's First Lady) and Yoko Ono. The exhibition will run July 20th through Sep 5th. The deadline for entries is July 15th. Call for Artists entry form is available at the NHAA office, 136 State Street, Portsmouth 03801 or call 603-431-4230.

Other recent Calendar additions include the opening of the Old York Historical Society exhibit on Treaty-related events at the Elizabeth Perkins House (June 4 through August 27), the Portsmouth Historical Society's garden party re-creation at Carey Creek Farm on August 27th and the announcement that the New Hampshire National Guard will organize the planned "Peacekeepers Parade" on August 6th. Other events include speeches, forums, and conferences; films, plays, musical performances, art exhibits and a concluding state dinner in honor of the Anniversary. There is even a curriculum in development to assist teachers in educating students to the importance of the Treaty.

All eyes were on Portsmouth during the summer of 1905 as Japanese and Russian envoys met to end the bloody Russo-Japanese War. For thirty days, Baron Sergei Witte and Minister Komura the plenipotentiaries representing Tsar and Emperor gathered every available resource including the social graces found in a Seacoast summer to draft the Treaty of Portsmouth that ended the fighting on September 5th.

President Theodore Roosevelt won the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for bringing the countries together and for the back-channel diplomacy that aided the face-to-face negotiations of the extraordinary Russian and Japanese diplomats.

But Portsmouth helped achieve the Peace, thanks to the the US Navy's peace process and the hospitality of the citizens of New Hampshire. Today it's called multi-track diplomacy. A committee of Portsmouth citizens representing businesses, cultural groups and a diverse host of community organizations are putting together a calendar of events that will let visitors in the summer of 2005 see how it all happened a hundred years ago.