Tara Leigh Tappert, Ph.D.

Founder and Principal: The Arts & The Military

A cultural historian and archivist by training, Tara has been a scholar, curator,
and archivist/librarian for nearly 40 years. In 2010 Tara began connecting with veterans
active in the contemporary veteran/artist movement, and since then has been
organizing and developing veteran-focused exhibitions and researching the 20th and
21st century history of art-making as a form of rehabilitation for the war wounded.

In 2011, Tappert founded The Arts & The Military, and in 2012 she led a team of volunteers
who launched Arts, Military + Healing, a 6-day event at seven cultural, educational, and
medical institutions across the greater Washington, D.C. area.

Tara holds a B.A. in History from Hope College, an M.S.L.S. in Library and Archives Administration from
Wayne State University, and a Ph.D. in American Civilization from George Washington University.

Below you will find her C.V.


 

TARA LEIGH TAPPERT, Ph.D.

Professional Experience

Curator, WAR FRONT / HOME FRONT: Through the Eyes of Our Military, Kent County Arts Council, Chestertown, MD, 2017

Curator, MOVING Through MEMORIES of Service and Conflict, Hylton Performing Arts Center, George Mason University, Manassas, VA, 2016

Curator, Healing Threads / Cathartic Clay: War, Trauma, and Art, Salina Art Center, Salina, KS, 2014

Co-Curator, Citizen / Soldier / Artist, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Kansas City, KS, 2014

Curator, Citizen SoldierCitizen, Lubeznik Center for the Arts, Michigan City, IN, 2013

Adjunct Professor, Public History Course, The Arts and the Military, History Department, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Fall semester, 2013

Program Evaluator, Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, Healing Wounded Warriors Artists-in Residence Program at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, 2013

Exhibitions Coordinator, Combat Paper Project, 2011-2014

Project Designer & Events Planner, Arts, Military + Healing: A Collaborative Imitative, 2011-2012

Founder, The Arts & The Military, est. 2011

Trainer, for the Artists-in-Residence at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, 2010

Research Awards: 

 2016 – N.E.H. Summer Institute Participant – Veterans in Society: Ambiguities and Representations, Virginia Tech

 2014 – N.E.H. Summer Institute Participant – World War I and the Arts: Sound, Vision, Psyche, University of Cincinnati

 2014 – David B. Larson Fellow for Health and Spirituality, John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress

 2010 – Research Grant, Center for Craft, Creativity & Design

Selected Lectures: 

In Service to the Nation: Arts and Crafts and the Military, Virginia Tech Carillion School of Medicine, Nov., 2017

From Disability to Self-Sufficiency: War Wounds/Arts & Crafts/The Military, Nat. Mus. of the Marine Corps, Jul., 2017

Framing Reflections and Depictions of Conflict, Meridian International Center, Sept., 2017

Conversations about Careers: Transforming War and Trauma Experiences through the Arts, Hope College, Feb., 2017

Beyond Stereotype: War, Warriors, and the Creative Arts, Boston Athenaeum, Jan., 2017

ART FROM WAR: Documenting Devastation / Realizing Restoration, Kluge Center, Library of Congress, Jan., 2015

HORACE PIPPIN: Outsider/Insider/Outsider, NEH Summer Institute, University of Cincinnati, Jul., 2014

Transforming War and Trauma Experiences through the Arts, Friends Academy, Mar., 2014

In Service to the Nation: Arts and Crafts and the Military, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian, May, 2012

Selected Publications: 

WAR FRONT / HOME FRONT: Through the Eyes of Our Military (Exhibit-Nov. 3-Dec. 3, 2017) Chestertown, MD: KCAC, 2017

MOVING Through MEMORIES of Service and Conflict (Exhibit–Nov. 7-Dec. 11, 2016) Manassas, VA: HPAC, GMU, 2016

Healing Threads / Cathartic Clay: War, Trauma, and Art. (Exhibit–Nov. 6, 2014–Feb. 1, 2015) Salina, KS: Salina Art Center, 2014

Citizen / Soldier / Artist. (Exhibit–June 6-27, 2014) Kansas City, KS: Mid-America Arts Alliance, 2014

Citizen SoldierCitizen (Exhibit–Nov. 2, 2013–Feb. 9, 2014) Michigan City, IN: Lubeznik Center for the Arts, 2013

 Arts Editor, Journal of Military Experience, vol. 3, Nov., 2013

Education: 

 Ph.D. in American Civilization, George Washington University, 1990

 M.S.L.S. in Library and Archives Administration, Wayne State University, 1976

 B.A. in History, Hope College. 1973