Vet Art Project & Chicago Dramatists Receives the Towner Award by the Illinois Humanities Council

The Towner Award is presented annually to an IHC project, to encourage risk-taking in the development and execution of a public humanities project. In the past venture and risk-taking have been demonstrated through new formats, unusual venue, use or imaginative interpretation of the humanities disciplines not usually integrated into public humanities programs, or through an attempt to reach an audience not usually associated with the humanities. The Towner Award was created by the IHC Board of Directors in 1985 in memory of a past chairman, Lawrence W. Towner.

Vet Art Project Time Is Almost Here! Schedule of Programs Announced

Hello Friends,

February is almost here and that means its time to create art, community, and more in the Studio Theater of the Chicago Cultural Center. Please see the full calendar of events listed at www.vetartproject.com. The link to see or print out the schedule is in the upper right hand corner of the first page of that Web site. Note some programs require an advance registration and some programs are open to the public.

Thanks for all your support, care, and kind words. We are making a difference!

Contribute in Thought or Deed to the Vet Art Project

I know that while the needs of the world grow, our personal resources diminish. I am, however, asking you to consider making a contribution to the Vet Art Project by participating or making a donation in-kind or monetary contribution (tax deductible through the Vet Art Project's fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas).

You may already be familiar with the Vet Art Project's mission statement:

The Vet Art Project creates opportunities for veterans to work in collaboration with artists to create new art about war for public performance and viewing. The goals of the Vet Art Project are to:

Support our veterans

Create stronger voices among our veterans

Provide new opportunities for artists and

Offer a venue to hear the voices of our veterans and artists and

Foster discussions about how war affects us all

The seed for this idea was planted in late 2007 when I heard Ed Tick, author of War and the Soul, on the radio. He gave an impassioned plea to support our veterans, and for community members to witness their truth, and I realized that art and artists could help build a bridge to reconnect us all. I never dreamed that this seed would blossom into the beautiful reality that is the Vet Art Project--in residence in the Studio Theater of the Chicago Cultural Center in February 2009--culminating in a free public performance of new art about war on Monday, February 23, 7:30 p.m. While the month of the Vet Art Project lies before us, the accomplishments are already clear:

• More than a dozen outreach programs have educated the community about the needs of veterans and their families, and provided contributions individuals can make to change lives.
• More than two dozen veterans and family members of veterans and more than 100 artists, creative arts therapists, psychologists, and others have participated in the Vet Art Project to date.
• A Veterans Day performance honoring the journey of a soldier created from veterans' writing submitted to the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, was created with the assistance of American Theater Company affiliated artists and ensemble members.
• Many organizations have made in-kind donations and grants to support our veterans voices including Chicago Dramatists, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Stage Left Theatre, American Theater Company, the Chicago Book Festival (Chicago Public Libraries), the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Puffin Foundation, and most recently the Illinois Humanities Council.

Collaborative partnerships between veterans and artists are already underway for the February 23rd event, yet much work still lies ahead. As you may already know this is the first step in what I hope will become a national movement to activate our artists to help veterans tell stories of war so we will all bear witness to the truth. 

Complete details on how to make a tax-deductible contribution to the Vet Art Project through its fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas are available at www.vetartproject.com/sponsor.html. Please visit www.vetartproject.com to learn more and get involved.

War affects us all. We need to know the truth about war. Veterans carry this truth. We need to support them, honor their service, and listen to their truth. The Vet Art Project is a single step in this direction. Honor this path by walking with us.

Veterans lead the way at latest Vet Art Project Outreach Program

The DuPage Writers Group hosted the most recent outreach program for the Vet Art Project at the Carol Stream Public Library. A dozen of us gathered to share stories about war and learn about the plans for the Vet Art Project at the Chicago Cultural Center in February 2009. And while I came with a lot of prepared material, we were treated to a great learning experience with the help of J.D. Kammes (Iraq War and Kosovo War veteran), a member of the NIU Veterans Group, and Gerald L. Lundby (WWII veteran). J.D. talked about how sharing his war experiences with his family helped his uncle share some of his experiences during the Vietnam War for the first time. Ilona Meagher, author of Moving a Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops (www.igpub.com) and creator of the PTSDCombat.com Web site also attended and provided these photos.

Thanks to Beth Orchard of the DuPage Writers Group who organized this event. Thanks, too, to the other writers of the group who are helping to record the stories of veterans that will be published early in 2009. More details to come soon.

Illinois Humanities Council Awards Grant

The Vet Art Project was awarded a mini-grant from the Illinois Humanities Council for the February 2009 program planned for the Chicago Cultural Center Studio Theater. This project will connect veterans and their family members with artists from all disciplines to collaboratively transform stories of war and its affect on us all into art for public performance and viewing. The project will culminate at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 23, 2009 when community members are invited to bare witness to these stories and this art. More details at www.vetartproject.com including how to reserve tickets to this performance, which is free, but advance reservations are required.

Official announcement here: www.prairie.org/news/illinois-humanities-council-awards-mini-grants-seven-local-nonprofits.

Veterans Day Program Connects Audience to the Experience of Soldiers

The staged reading of veterans writing, performed by actors affiliated with American Theater Company, and assisted by Jessa Carlstrom and Heather Meyers, was a great success. It was both entertaining and informative. I think, too, that the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum and the Vet Art Project gained some new supporters and fans. We are talking about making this collaboration an annual event. 

In Their Own Words: Veterans Day Program plans are set!

Friends,

I hope you'll come out and show your support for our veterans and current arms services personnel, not by shopping, but by truly honoring their service to our country. We, the collective of artists affiliated with the Vet Art Project and American Theater Company, have come together to honor our troops. Using original writing submitted over the years to the National Vietnam Veterans Museum, we have recreated the journey of a soldier. This will be a staged reading performance in the lobby of the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum. I hope you'll join us.

Tuesday, November 11th, 6 p.m.

National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum

1801 S. Indiana Avenue

Chicago

312.326.0270