2023 VETERAN ART TRIENNIAL & SUMMIT
SURVIVING THE LONG WARS
Inspired by the powerful artwork of Indigenous artists responding to the “American Indian Wars” and artists of the Greater Middle East reacting to the “Global War on Terror,” the second Veteran Art Triennial & Summit focuses on how these artistic responses complicate and are entangled with the creative practices of veterans. The featured artworks, projects, programs, and exhibitions create opportunities for people to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of war.
The project began in September 2022 with a virtual scholarly seminar series at the nexus of critical ethnic studies, Native/Indigenous studies, and Middle Eastern Studies on the histories and futures of Native rebellion in relation to US militarism and warfare. The project culminates in the second Veteran Art Triennial & Summit, in spring 2023, at the Chicago Cultural Center, Hyde Park Art Center, and Newberry Library.
Veteran Art Summit
Chicago | 3/16/2023 - 3/19/2023
Triennial Exhibitions
Newberry Library | Exhibition 2/28/2023 - 5/27/2023 | Opening Program 3/16/2023
Hyde Park Art Center | Exhibition 3/16/2023 - 7/9/2023 | Opening Program: 3/17/2023
Chicago Cultural Center | Exhibition 3/12/2023 - 7/2/2023 | Opening Program 3/18/2023
Featured Artists & Presenters
Lubana Al Quntar, Bassim Al Shaker, Hipólito Arriaga III, Andrea Assaf, Dorothy I. Burge, Lovella Calica, Miridith Campbell (Kiowa), June Carpenter (Osage/Shawnee), Brittney Chantele, Mahwish Chishty, Elexa Dawson (Citizen Potawatomi Nation), Jose deVera, Melissa Doud (Ojibwe), Sabba Elahi, Rodney Ewing, Ali Eyal, Darrell Wayne Fair, Eddie Falcón, Sarah Farahat, Frontline Arts, Chitra Ganesh, Mariam Ghani, Frederick Gokliz (San Carlos Apache), GOODW.Y.N., Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation), Gina Herrera (Tesuque Pueblo), Tom Jones (Ho-Chunk), Rajkamal Kahlon, Ruth Kaneko (Kanaka Wahine), Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III (Hunkpapa Lakota), Erika R. Land, Terran Last Gun (Piikani), Joseph Lefthand (Cheyenne-Arapaho, Taos, and Zuni tribes), Monty Little (Diné), Hanaa Malallah, Hector René Membreño-Canales, Dunya Mikhail, James “JUST JAMEZ” Pakootas (Confederate Tribes of Colville), Chris Pappan (Kaw/Osage, Lakota), Eric Perez, Yvette Pino, Michael Rakowitz, Gregory Rick, Meranda Roberts, Joseph Running Crane (Blackfeet), Sada, Aida Shahghasemi, Gerald Sheffield, Carlos Sirah, Hussein Smko, Zafer Tawil, Starla Thompson (Potawatomi), Anthony Torres, Angela Waller, Warrior Writers, Jason Wesaw (Pokagon Band Potawatomi), Ernest M Whiteman III (Northern Arapaho), Dwayne Wilcox (Oglala Lakota), Ashley Wilkerson, Anu Yadav, Yiran Zhang, and more
More information at SURVIVINGTHELONGWARS.org
SURVIVING THE LONG WARS is organized by Aaron Hughes, Ronak K. Kapadia, Therese Quinn, Joseph Lefthand, Amber Zora, and Meranda Roberts, with support from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Institute for the Humanities Innovation grant, UIC Award for Creative Activity, Chicago Cultural Center, Hyde Park Art Center, Newberry Library, DEMIL Art Fund, and the National Endowment for the Humanities Dialogues on the Experience of War Grant. NEH Veteran Fellows include Gina Herrera, Monty Little, Gerald Sheffield, Anthony Torres, Eric Perez, and Natasha Erskine.
Special thanks to the Disability Cultural Center, the Native American Support Program, and the Women’s Leadership and Resource Center at UIC.
2019 Triennial & Veteran Art Summit
2019 Triennial & Veteran Art Summit
In partnership with the Chicago Cultural Center, DePaul Art Museum, National Veterans Art Museum, University of Illinois at Chicago, Richard Harris Collection, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, members of the emerging Veteran Art Movement organized the first ever Triennial and Veteran Art Summit in 2019.
Triennial & Veteran Art Summit
On War & Survival
Exhibition May 3, 2019 - July 29, 2019
Summit May 3, 2019 - May 5, 2019
With a focus on the visual, literary, performative and creative practices of veterans, the Triennial and Veteran Art Summit explored a century of war and survival while challenging the perception that war is something only those who have served in the military can comprehend. Throughout history, art has provided a frame to create meaning out of the complicated experience of war, seek justice and imagine reconciliation. The Triennial drew on this history to connect today’s veteran artists with the history of veteran creative practices and their impact on society over the past century.
The Triennial exhibition opening coincided with the Veteran Art Summit. A series of presentations, workshops, panels, and discussions were held May 3 - 5 at the Chicago Cultural Center, DePaul Art Museum, and National Veterans Art Museum.
FEATURED VETERAN ARTISTS, WRITERS, & PERFORMERS
Jesse Albrecht, Anthony Aiello, Ralph Arnold, Hipólito Arriaga, Rick Bartow, Drew Cameron, Kelly Carter, Horace Coleman, Michael Cox, Matthew Deibel, Alicia Dietz, Otto Dix, Rodney Ewing, Eric J. Garcia, Fanny Garcia, Nicole Goodwin, Sharon Grant Wildwind, Randolph Harmes, Rolando Hinojosa, Amber Hoy, Ken Hruby, Jasper Johns, Kiam Marcelo Junio, David Keefe, Michael Kelley, Ash Kyrie, Willyum LaBeija, Jacob Lawrence, Joseph Lefthand, Jack Levine, Monty Little, Ulysses S. Marshall, Hugh Martin, Leo McStravick, Cao Ba Minh, Robert Morris, Howard Nemerov, Richard Olsen, Jefferson Pinder, Jessica Putnam-Phillips, Khadijah Queen, James Razko, Karin Rodney-Haapala, Roy Scranton, Brandon Secrest, Alan Seeger, Gerald Sheffield, Mary Louise Sorrin, Karen Skolfield, Ehren Tool, Anthony Torres, Keith Wilson, Richard Yohnka, Yeon J. Yue, & Cleveland Wright.
With special guest Iraqi-American artist Wafaa Bilal.
ExhibitionS, Programs, & VENUES
Chicago Cultural Center | chicago.gov
Making Meaning
CONVERGENCE
Conflict Exchange
Veteran Movements
Return to the Body (performance program)
National Veterans Art Museum | nvam.org
Open/Closed
DePaul Art Museum | artmuseum.depaul.edu
Eric J. Garcia: The Bald Eagle’s Toupee
Printed Literature & Education Resource Guide | PDF
Rendezvous with Death: A Century of War Poetry by Veterans (literature & education component)
PARTNERS
Chicago Cultural Center | 78 E Washington St, Chicago, IL
Chicago Cultural Center (CCC) is the nation’s first and most comprehensive free municipal cultural venue. Every year, the Chicago Cultural Center presents hundreds of free international, national, regional and local artists, musicians and performers, providing a showcase where the public can enjoy and learn about the arts.
www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicago_culturalcenter.html
DePaul Art Museum | 935 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL
DePaul Art Museum (DPAM) is a world-class museum located in the heart of Lincoln Park on DePaul University’s campus. DPAM is open to the public and presents four to nine temporary exhibitions per year with a permanent collection of more than 3,500 objects with strengths in international modern and contemporary art.
artmuseum.depaul.edu
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is is an independent federal agency created in 1965. It is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States. NEH serves and strengthens our republic by promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans. The Endowment accomplishes this mission by awarding grants for top-rated proposals examined by panels of independent, external reviewers.
www.neh.gov
National Veterans Art Museum (NVAM) | 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave. 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL
The National Veterans Art Museum inspires greater understanding of the impact of war. The museum collects, preserves and exhibits art inspired by combat and created by veterans.
https://www.nvam.org/nvam-triennial--summit.html
University of Illinois at Chicago, Museum and Exhibition Studies Program (UIC MUSE) is an interdisciplinary graduate program with a social justice focus. It emphasizes the evolving social and political contexts of today’s cultural institutions and provides students with the intellectual and professional background necessary to thrive in a multitude of positions, including as curators, gallery directors, museum educators, exhibition developers, and professionals within the emerging spheres of digital information-sharing.
artandarthistory.uic.edu/uic_muse
Richard Harris Art Collection
Richard Harris grew up in New York and graduated from Queens College with a degree in Economics and a strong background in art history. After a long career in the art reproduction business, he began building his own collection. Over the past 40 years, he has accumulated over 1,500 objects exploring themes of death and mortality.
www.richardharrisartcollection.com