BREWER – Whether they were sun-shaped bursts of color slung over a basketball hoop or doll-sized dresses featuring anti-war images, Pat Wheeler’s Tibetan prayer flags conveyed a message of peace that resounded in every corner of the Brewer Auditorium on Saturday.

Wheeler, who makes prayer flags from cloth and personal garments that hold special meaning for her, calls her work “art activism.” She uses her multimedia artwork as a vehicle to express herself and influence people. She is a member of the Maine Artist’s Peace Project.

“The arts are an important and healing part of life,” the Deer Isle artist reflected Saturday. “We try to foster dialogue through the arts.”

Wheeler was among more than 66 diverse artists, performers and organizations participating in the 10th annual Help Organize Peace Earthwide, or H.O.P.E., Festival, held Saturday.

We The People, an organization that is against expansion of the West Old Town Landfill, seeks dialogue too – and action. Members were at the festival to sell refreshments and hand out literature.

Creating a festive air, musical groups including the Bangor Fiddlers, folk singers George Mann and Julius Margolin, the acoustic duo Kate Boverman and Ethan Miller, and American Indian flute player and builder Hawk Henries performed during the annual festival.

Julius Margolin, a World War II veteran, said he uses music to oppose the Iraq war.

“The festival is about peace, and so are we, so anything we can do to advance that.” The folk singer added, “I’m a World War II vet, so I know what war is.”

Ilze Petersons, a member of the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine and one of the festival’s organizers, said this year’s event sparked the greatest attendance ever, surpassing 1,400 individuals, as well as group participation.

“We were booked a month in advance, and that’s a first,” she said after the festival.

Petersons reported more than the usual number of volunteers showed up to help, including the Penobscot County Job Corps, which provided refreshments and volunteers all day long.

“They kept coming up and saying, ‘how can I help?’ and that was really inspiring,” she said.

Petersons attributed the increased involvement in this year’s festival to the war in Iraq.

“I think that because our country has been at war, so many people came out to express their hope for a peaceful future,” she said.