Vet Art Project slideshow

from Ilona Meaghar

Monday evening, Lisa Rosenthal and her Vet Art Project troops put on quite a show for us all at the Chicago Cultural Center. The performance and artwork showcase was the product of an inspired collaboration between area veterans and artists.

The performances (~20 separate mini plays, poetry recitals, musical compositions, readings, performance art/dance skits, and so much more) and art were moving, riveting, resounding, stirring, saddening, maddening, enveloping, uplifting, jarring caustic and crass, beautiful, bold and brash.

It was an honor to be there to witness, to listen, to consider, to shoulder and to do my part as a civilian to absorb some of the emotion of the shared stories of our nation’s veterans.

Click on HERE for photos from the Vet Art Project’s performance on Monday February 23 at the Chicago Cultural Center as well as some photos from early in the development process.

A Letter to the Editor About the Vet Art Project Performance on Monday Night

from Lisa Rosenthal, Vet Art Project facilitator

Here’s a letter to the editor that one audience member wrote and sent to the Chicago papers. Let’s hope his voice is picked up in news print. He writes . . .

On Monday evening, February 23rd, I was one of over 200 people who attended the Vet Art Project performance as part of the Incubator Series at the Chicago Cultural Center. As the brainchild of Lisa Rosenthal, the Vet Art Project creates opportunities for veterans to work in collaboration with artists from all disciplines to create new art about war for public performance and viewing. The Vet Art Project’s mission states: “The Vet Art Project is based on the belief that we must talk of war to think of peace, and an understanding that it is our veterans who will lead the way.” The evening, entitled “New Art About War,” included 19 staged performances including poetry, short plays, dance, and music. There was also a gallery full of haunting visual art and a film that was being screened as the audience filtered in.

As I took in the various works I was struck by the clarity with which these veterans expressed themselves, unapologetically sharing their fear, shame, guilt, and grief. They spoke of their experiences in war, the difficulties of returning home and the pride they feel for their country and its citizens. It was amazing to see the catharsis these veterans were able to achieve when given the proper outlet, and I can only imagine what kind of relief was provided to them via this opportunity. I wonder what the effect would be if warriors in more oppressed parts of the world were given an audience and a chance to strike out with their voices rather than their weapons. 
--Dave Strong

THE VET ART PROJECT: Post your review

Monday, February 23, 2009
INCUBATOR Series in Preston Bradley Hall
Presented by The Vet Art Project

New Art about War

The Vet Art Project creates opportunities for veterans to work in collaboration with artists from all disciplines to create new art about war for public performance and viewing. The project recently received a Towner award from the Illinois Humanities Council.

INCUBATOR is a series designed to support the creation of new work by emerging Chicago theater companies. Utilizing Chicago DCA Theater space and resources, participants explore new projects, develop and refine styles, and share their process with the public during a special showcase event. 

Tonight’s the Night!

by Lisa Rosenthal, Vet Art Project facilitator

We are in the middle of preparing for tonight’s performance. We’ve been gifted the space of Preston Bradley Hall and we continue to get reservations, now approaching 250. The community is embracing the project and we are very grateful. And I am grateful by the many gifts this project has brought into my life and the lives of all the participants:
new sources of support
new understanding
new career directions
new insights
new commitments
new partnerships
new friendships
Please join us this evening. It is the next step in the journey. A journey that will continue.
We do receive
Peace through Art,
Lisa

“It’s awesome. It’s fantastic. I’m glad to be a part of it.”
“Talking to people, not being judged, it’s been great.”
--Matt Ping, OEF veteran

“I’m just in awe. The support from friends and family for this project has meant the world to me, and restored my faith in humanity.”
--Jessa Carlstrom, uber artist and Vet Art co-facilitator

One Story Among Many of How Our Veterans Continue to Lead and Inspire Us

by Janis Clark Johnston, Ed.D., Licensed Psychologist and Vet Art Project collaborator

The stories of our Vet Art participant veterans are powerful in their recreations of the daily tragedies of war. Not only has the Vet Art program stirred up many war-related memories in my mind, it has rekindled a desire to be more politically active.  I am grateful to a veteran who inspired me to write a letter to President Obama about the purpose of the current wars.

In the recent (February 9, 2009) Newsweek article, “Obama’s Vietnam,” I was struck by the article’s comparison of our current wars to the horrific situation my generation faced in Vietnam.  Military expert Douglas Lute’s statement that the U.S. has “never been beaten tactically in a fire fight in Afghanistan” is akin to the Vietnam era military expert Harry Summers’ exchange with a North Vietnamese Army expert.  When Summers had stated, “you never defeated us in the field,” the Vietnamese military officer simply replied, “That may be true.  It is also irrelevant.”

It is time for the U.S. to be “relevant” on so many fronts.