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ESCANABA, Mich. (WLUC) – Starting later this month, the Bonifas Arts Center in Escanaba will showcase art from veterans.
The project is a partnership between the Bonifas Arts Center and the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center. The VA Center started the idea by offering art classes. The community engagement and partnership coordinator Alyssa Knoll said they wanted to expand the idea and allow veterans to express their art.
“We’re connecting people,” Knoll said. “We’re promoting that connection. We’re getting them connected, not only maybe to themselves through the process of creating and expressing themselves through art, we’re connecting them to a coping strategy.”
Submissions for the exhibit are still being accepted. Bonifas gallery coordinator Kate Oman said any and all types of art can be submitted.
“Currently, I have some sculpture work that has come in like a moose antler that’s been carved,” Oman said. “I haven’t even opened that up yet. We have some wood carved items and we have some paintings that just came in. We have drawings that just came in. I know I’ve got a person bringing in an ammo box.”
Knoll said she hopes those who attend the exhibit take away what it means to be a veteran.
“I hope that it generates some conversation around understanding, compassion, connection, engaging with one another and reducing stigma,” Knoll said.
The deadline for submission is Sep. 14. The exhibit is set to open Sep. 21 and run until Nov. 2.
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