[CHICAGO, ILLINOIS — Oct 6, 2022] The DEMIL Art Fund has awarded three more grants to veteran artists.
Over the last year, DEMIL Art Fund has supported nine artists with grants. These awards support veteran artists to expand their practice as we prepare for the next Veteran Art Triennial and Summit, SURVIVING THE LONG WARS, scheduled for March 16 - 19, 2023 in Chicago, IL.
The newest cohort are veterans Darrell Fair of Chicago, IL, Gina Herrera of Bakersfield, CA, and Anthony Torres of Fort Lauderdale FL. Each of these recipients will work closely with the Veteran Art Movement and the DEMIL Art Fund to support the next Veteran Art Triennial and Summit.
Gina Herrera, The Last Voyage, 70" x 37" x 26”, assorted Found Material and Steel, 2020.
Darrell Fair, self-portrait, acrylic on board, 2020.
Fair is a Marine veteran, visual artist and animator, who has been incarcerated since 1999. He is a Chicago police torture survivor and is currently waiting on a ruling from the Illinois Supreme Court about his case. Fair is working on a series of new works inspired by ledger art of Native/Indigenous prisoners of war. Herrera served in the Navy, Army and Air Force. She will expand on her current sculptural series, responding to the trash left by the US military in Iraq. She uses found materials to construct gestural, almost figurative, sculptures. Torres, an Army veteran, will curate a series of performances debuting at the Veteran Art Summit in Chicago at the Chicago Cultural Center, Newberry Library and Hyde Park Art Center.
The next Veteran Art Summit and Triennial, SURVIVING THE LONG WARS, explores the multiple overlapping histories that shape our understanding of warfare, as well as the alternative visions of peace, healing, and justice generated by diverse communities affected by war. The program began in September with a virtual scholarly series by Dr. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and continues this month with writer and scholar Kyle T. Mays. The series will continue into next year and culminate at the Triennial where Fair, Herrera and Torres’s research and work will be highlighted in the program and exhibition spaces.