Healing from War through the Arts:
Vets’ Art Exhibition, Workshops and Readings
Saturday April 21 at Teaneck’s Puffin Cultural Forum
An exhibition featuring handmade paper art crafted from military uniforms by war veterans will open April 21 at the Puffin Cultural Forum from 5-9 p.m. The Puffin Cultural Forum is at 20 Puffin Way in Teaneck, NJ. Reservations recommended; call 201-836-3499. Requested donation is $5 or bring a food dish for potluck supper.
The featured art was created by participants in the NJ Combat Paper project, Veterans’ Sanctuary in Ithaca, NY and workshops in other cities. At these hands-on events, which grew out of Warrior Writers writing workshops, veterans transform war uniforms into cathartic works of art. The uniforms are cut up, pulped and formed into paper sheets, which are turned into posters, book covers and other creative objects decorated with images from a veteran’s military and post-war experiences.
The April 21 event will open with workshops, starting at 5 p.m., in making Combat Paper, writing and drama, which are open to veterans, military families and friends. The workshops will be followed by a potluck supper at 6:30 p.m. The art show grand opening is at 7:30 p.m., followed by readings of poetry and prose by Global War on Terrorism veterans from the new Warrior Writers anthology, After Action Review.
The Combat Papermaking workshop facilitators are David Keefe and Eli Wright, coordinators of the NJ Combat Paper Project at the Printmaking Center of New Jersey; they will be aided by Nathan Lewis of the Veterans’ Sanctuary in Ithaca, NY. The three all served in the US military in Iraq.
The drama workshop facilitator is Dustin Evans, who coordinates drama workshops at the Bronx (NY) Veterans Affairs Medical Center. An actor and playwright (“Perimeters”), Dusty is a Vietnam war veteran.
The writing workshop facilitators are Lovella Calica, director of Philadelphia-based Warrior Writers, and Jenny Pacanowski, writing facilitator at the Ithaca, NY Veterans’ Sanctuary; Jenny is an Iraq war veteran.
The event is curated by Jan Barry, a poet and Vietnam veteran, and Walt Nygard, a writer, artist and Vietnam vet. It is cosponsored by Military Families Speak Out – Bergen County; NJ Combat Paper Project; Veterans For Peace, Chapter 21 NJ; Veterans’ Sanctuary, Ithaca, NY; and Warrior Writers.
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