What We Do
“We provide a platform to educate peace, tolerance and compassion through the images and ideas of global and local peacemakers. Our exhibits, talks, books and curricula serve to inspire our communities toward positive action.”

Exhibits
Permanent Architects of Peace exhibits can be found at these locations:
- Dalai Lama Library and Learning Center, Ithaca, New York – Grand Opening September 2023
- Abraham Lincoln Highschool, San Jose, CA
- Anahuac University, Mexico City
- Ave Maria University, Ave Maria, FL
- Bellarmine College Prep, San Jose, CA
- Hoover Institute at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
- Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
- Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI
- National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN
- Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art, Moraga, CA
- Tresidder Memorial Union, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
- University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA
Books
Courage
During his forty years creating portraits of notable people, Michael Collopy observed a core commonality in his subjects: courage, which inspired a project focused on individuals who have displayed bravery through acts of courage. The book emphasizes that we each see courage through our own lens, and invites readers to question their own perceptions of what courage means to them. (Limited Edition 2020)
Architects of Peace
Inspired by Marian Wright Edelman’s call for world leaders to close the widening gap between humanity’s promise and its performance, Michael set out to document the visions of seventy-five of the worlds great peacemakers- spiritual leaders, politicians, scientists, artists, and activists. Through their portraits and words, Architects of Peace conveys how diversity of culture and opinion can be united through a central goal of peace. (2000)
Works of Love are Works of Peace
Works of Love are Works of Peace is the most comprehensive photographic documentation of the apostolic work and life of the Missionaries of Charity, established by Mother Teresa. An historical record, it serves as an illustrated prayer book vividly portraying the peace and joy that come when “small things” are done with great love. (1996)
Talks
Recent Talks
- Bankhead Theater, Livermore, CA May, 2023
- Mercy Highschool, Burlingame, CA November , 2022
- Burlingame, It’s a small Town Podcast, YouTube, September 2022
- The Donna Drake Show, YouTube, June 2022
- The Mentors Radio, August 2021
- Ave Maria University 2016
Curriculum
“The Architects of Peace project began as an exercise in Peace Studies at the highschool and undergraduate levels. Institutions utilize the book and exhibit in their curricula in a variety of disciplines. It is also a seminar resource in the workplace to educate teams on engaging with inclusivity and tolerance.”

Sample Interdisciplinary Curricula
Issue-Oriented studies in Ethics
The Listing of Architects by Issue matches the various architects of peace with the issues upon which they’ve focused. Some of the architects tend to concentrate on individual issues, while others branch out into numerous elements of the peacemaking process. The Listing of Architects by Issue provides an alternative way for classes to access Architects of Peace material by focusing research on an area of particular personal interest rather than on the accomplishments of a single individual.
First Year Composition
The exercises proposed in the “write” section of each lesson plan were designed by a specialist in collegiate Composition and Rhetoric courses who currently teaches at Santa Clara University. They can be used as one of the regular composition projects assigned within a syllabus where the emphasis is placed on working in multiple genres in response to rhetorical needs. Without modification, it would probably best fit into a two-week assignment sequence where the first week is devoted to student research, both in terms of choosing the architect about whom they wish to write and in terms of researching the issue in accordance with the lesson plan, and where the second week is devoted to the composition/revision process. It is suggested that instructors who wish to use Architects of Peace as a class project develop their own assignment sheet, specifying such items as due dates and required length of papers in accordance with an appropriate level of rigor for the individual course.
Women's Studies
Twenty eight of the seventy-four portraits included in the original volume of Architects of Peace were of women, ranging from women heads of state to feminist activists. While to some this ratio, slightly better than one-in-three, might represent progress given that issues of war and peace have traditionally been considered a male domain, to others it could indicate that gender equality still has a long way to go in the world arena. Bella Abzug’s essay in this volume states that, “…men support our quest for quality on the more narrowly defined women’s issues but seem much less willing to examine critically the premises of society and governmental decisions in the same way that women are unafraid to do.” How might women examine the premises of society differently than men? Class projects and individual research can be structured around the question of whether women tend to approach the peacemaking process differently than men. Is there any evidence that women heads of state tend to go to greater lengths to avoid war than men in similar positions of leadership?
Political Science
Seven former heads of states were included in the original publication of Architects of Peace. They are: Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan, the first woman to head the government of an Islamic state; Jimmy Carter, thirty-ninth president of the United States of America; F.W. de Klerk of South Africa, who lifted the ban on the African National Congress; Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union who introduced the reforms of glasnost; Shimon Peres, former prime minister of Israel; Margaret Thatcher, prime minister of the United Kingdom and Europe’s first woman prime minister; and Lech Walesa, Poland’s first noncommunist president after 40 years of communist rule. While each of these former leaders met with considerable success in terms of their ability to influence social policy, they all met with formidable opposition from within their own governments in terms of their political agendas. Divide the class up into seven teams, and assign each team the task of researching the political frustrations encountered by each of these former heads of state, focusing especially on international relations and efforts to build enduring peace. After each team has submitted its report to the rest of the class, identify points of convergence in the findings, and draw conclusions about top-down introduction of change in political systems.
Rhetorical Analysis
Communications and Media Studies
Photographic Critique
Environmental Philosophy
Studies in Popular Culture
History/International Relations

Photography / Inspiration
ISBN: 978-0-578-64848-4
UPC: 575009780578648484
Page count: 251
Retail: $75