The annual Veterans’ Creative Arts Festival took place recently at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans’ Hospital. It was a pop-up art show open to the public free of charge which takes place the third Thursday of February each year from noon to 3:00 p.m. This year’s event was highly competitive with veterans participating in 50 art categories that ranged from fine art, applied art, and crafts and included art made from fibers, beads, models, kits, dreamcatchers, photos, drawings, collage, multimedia, ceramics, pottery, paintings, leather tooling, and woodwork. Each piece was judged by a panel of five volunteer judges from the community based on creativity/originality, skill and execution, and overall presentation. The competition recognizes the progress and recovery made through arts therapy, and raises the visibility of the creative achievements of our nation’s Veterans.
The Volunteer Judges for this art show were local artists Julie R. Evans, Scott Krohne, Rudy C. Ramirez, Ada Jarvis, and Stephen Micklas who were seen standing behind the pottery piece by Richard Swanson entitled “Sea Goddess” which earned Best in Show (2020) by unanimous agreement, despite the judges acknowledging that several other pieces by our talented veterans who entered this show were close contenders for this honor. There were just so many excellent pieces in the show to choose from this year, the judges all agreed.
There is also a large contingent of Volunteer Veterans to thank whose contributions made this show possible and impressive.
These volunteers are Marvin DeSaucy, Richard Burke, Ed Miller, Aaron Hunt, John Juniper, Derek King, and Lloyd Williams.
Several of these volunteers at the VA Hospital facilitate beginning artists as they learn how to approach several of these mediums and provide kits to the veterans (some of which are completed using art supplies donated for veterans’ programs). What makes this show so unique is that it consisting entirely of artwork by U.S. veterans. There are generally about fifty pieces of original artwork displayed each year and approximately 30 separate categories of art represented.
In recent years Best in Show has been awarded to Tom Fontanez for “Ask Not,” a patriotic piece using pyrography on board (2019), Raymond H. Ayers for “No Ground to Give, a beadwork hat and necklace (2018), and Guy W. Thomas, for “St. Francis Atrio, Mission Inn, Riverside, California, a mixed media drawing-painting (2017).
The first place winners will then move forward again to compete nationally for a gold, silver, or bronze medal award in October 2020, at the G. B. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center, in Jackson, Mississippi. At that time a booklet will be created that showcases the artistic achievements of the veterans from across the country. This art show is combined with four other creative arts therapies for veterans—music, dance, drama, and creative writing.
This show welcomes all veterans who are interested to participate each year. If you missed this show, be sure to mark your calendar now for February 18, 2021. To donate art kits, supplies, or your time to teach arts or crafts at the VA, or if you are a veteran to learn arts or crafts, contact Craft Care Specialist Aaron Hunt, COTA, who organized this event at (909) 235-8831.