Art/Ifacts Exhibitions

The ART/Ifacts Exhibitions Collection offers a catalyst for conversations about military service, the traumas and brutalities of war, responses to war policies and combat conditions, and transitioning from military to civilian life.

Cultural experiences across the military/civilian continuum enrich communities
and encourage compassion

ART/Ifacts Exhibitions is a multi-media arts collection of handmade paper objects, drawings, and ceramics created by active duty service members, veterans, military family members, and civilians, including those who care for our wounded warriors. The purpose of the collection is to provide opportunities for cultural, educational, and medical institutions to develop unique exhibitions for the communities they serve. Our exhibitions have been shown in community art centers, museums, universities, high schools, churches, vet centers, and other venues.

ART/Ifacts Exhibitions Collection offers a catalyst for conversations about military service, the traumas and brutalities of war, responses to war policies and combat conditions, and transitioning from military to civilian life. The artwork represents responses to down range and home front experiences from the Vietnam conflict, the first Gulf War, and the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The imagery depicts pride of service, loyalty and camaraderie, anger, pain, guilt, humor, irony and criticism, and is often richly animated with symbols and verse. Exhibitions from the ART-ifacts collection are intended to foster awareness and appreciation within civilian communities for military experiences in combat zones, on bases, and at home. These shows are a way to share stories with civilian neighbors.

ART/Ifacts nearly 300 item, multi-media collection was created by participants of active and retired grassroots arts initiatives. We represent the work of ART-illery, Button Field Paper, Combat Paper Project, Peace Paper Project, and Veterans in the Arts. Additionally, we have a selection of ceramic artwork by noted veteran-artists Ehren Tool and Jesse Albrecht, a selection of drawing by Jesse Albrecht, and music by Kevin Basl, written and recorded at Camp Taji, Iraq. As we continue to grow, we will also have a selection of curated shows of various sizes. Those interested in creating an exhibition or selecting work to add to a group show are encouraged to contact us and request our collection catalogue. A preview version of our full catalogue is available on this site.

Combat Paper Project Exhibit

The ART-ifacts Exhibitions collection is an assembled selection of artwork made by contemporary veterans, military family members, and civilians engaged in issues of war and violence.

The purpose of our collection is to provide institutions with an opportunity to create an Arts & Military exhibition that will resonate with images and stories that speak to local communities. Through our exhibitions catalogue (see preview link) you select the artwork that interests you, and we then help facilitate the exhibit by working with you to complete a loan agreement, and ship the artwork to your institution.

Tapping Artistic Expression

We have curated exhibitions that show forms of artistic expression that mirror the life cycle of those who have served in the military, and that demonstrate the significance of the paper making process as an art form that resonates for those who have experienced war.

MOVING Through MEMORIES Of Service and Conflict is organized around three themes – Service – History – Legacy

Citizen / Soldier / Citizen and Citizen / Soldier / Artist are organized around four themes important within military life: Record – React – Rehabilitate – Remember.

Healing Thread / Cathartic Clay: War, Trauma and Art and Healing Threads depicts how Combat Paper Project introduced returning Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans to the soothing and repetitive paper making process, and then shows how paper making is now used by other socially active arts initiatives like Peace Paper Project that works with a wide-range of communities impacted by war and trauma.

Traveling Exhibitions Collection

In 2011 we developed a traveling exhibitions collection on behalf of Combat Paper Project that was used for the facilitation of exhibitions throughout the U.S., Australia, and the Netherlands. A collection of approximately 300 pieces created at Combat Paper Project workshops and residencies was inventoried and catalogued, making it possible for staff at interested institutions to easily review and select the artwork they wished to borrow for temporary exhibitions.

Do you need assistance in organizing a Facilitated Exhibition?

We can facilitate an exhibition created from our ART-ifacts Exhibitions collection. We can also assist in the scheduling of complementary interpretative programs -- lectures, films, performances, workshops -- for these exhibits. You can expect detail-oriented registration assistance, and you can anticipate thoughtful complementary programming recommendations that meet your community participation goals.

Here's How We Make it work...

To tell the Arts & Military stories that resonate for your community we can help you select artwork from our ART-ifacts exhibitions catalogue, and then work with you to complete a loan agreement, and ship the artwork to your institution. Additionally, we can provide complementary interpretative programming recommendations, ranging from arts, writing, performance, and creative expressions workshops, to film screenings, and theater, dance, and musical presentations.

We Offer

• Registrarial services

• Administrative services

• Shipping and handling

• Complementary programming recommendations

Our Facilitated Exhibitions

o Friends Academy (services on behalf of Combat Paper Project)

o Seminole Nation Museum (services on behalf of Combat Paper Project)

o St. Paul's School (services on behalf of Combat Paper Project)

o Old Dominion University (services on behalf of Combat Paper Project)

o Sidwell Friends School (services on behalf of Combat Paper Project)

o Friends School of Baltimore (services on behalf of Combat Paper Project)

ARTifacts Exhibitions and our recommended complementary programs give small and medium-size organizations the chance to address important contemporary issues through a contained and affordable exhibitions program.

Do you need help developing a Curated Exhibition?

We can plan and curate temporary exhibitions on arts and military related topics. We can also assist in the scheduling of complementary interpretative programs: lectures, films, performances, and workshops... for these exhibitions.

You can count on a first-rate curated exhibit that addresses relevant arts and military issues, and you can anticipate thoughtful complementary programming recommendations that meet your community participation goals.

Curating Your Exhibition

There are myriad Arts & Military stories to tell. We can assist your institution in the design, and development of an arts and military exhibition. Our curated exhibits draw upon artwork in the ART/Ifacts Exhibitions collection, and also tap our extensive network of contemporary artists — veterans, military family members — and others who create artwork in response to the experiences of war, violence, and trauma.

Additionally, we can provide complementary interpretative programming recommendations, ranging from arts, writing, performance, and creative expressions workshops, to film screenings, and theater, dance, and musical presentations.

We Offer

• Exhibitions planning & Interpretative programs

• Curatorial services:

— Exhibit outlines

— Object lists

• Research and writing: Exhibition wall labels/Exhibition catalogues

• Complementary programming recommendations

Our Curated Exhibitions

o MOVING Through MEMORIES Of Service and Conflict – Hylton Performing Arts Center, George Mason University

o Healing Threads -- Lawton Vet Center in collaboration with Military Experience and the Arts 2

o Healing Threads / Cathartic Clay: War, Trauma and Art - - Salina Art Center

o Citizen / Soldier / Artist -- Mid-America Arts Alliance

o Citizen / Soldier / Citizen -- Lubeznik Center for the Arts

Our curated exhibits tap an extensive network of artists -- veterans, military families, and others who create artwork in response to the experiences of war, violence, and trauma.

Our Collections Management Services: Organization of Arts and Archival Collections

Our collections management services can supplement your in-house capabilities.

Since our country has been at war for more than ten years now, awareness of the realities of war and how war impacts individuals and communities is a part of our present day national conscience.

Many people who have lived through war have found art making as an outlet for their traumatic experiences. We believe these artistic expressions are historically valuable-- they not only document experiences, but are material objects that represent a moment in time. These are art objects and archival documents worthy of preservation.

We can assist individuals, families, and institutions with the assessment of arts and archival collections, and we can also organize these collections. We provide collections management services that can supplement your in-house capabilities.

What We Offer

o Review and assessment of military related arts and archival collections

o Organization of arts and archival collections

o Recommendations for the placement of collections with cultural and educational institutions

Our Collections Management Projects

o Combat Paper Project

o For other collections management projects, see Tappert & Associates

Case Study: Combat Paper Project

In 2014 the Combat Paper Project traveling exhibitions service was suspended, which then required a de-accessioning process. Once again, we inventoried the collection for return to the participating artists, for transfer to The Arts & The Military's ART-ifacts Exhibitions collection, and for donation to the Combat Paper Project archival collection housed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Included in the donation to the University of Illinois were the entire exhibition records generated between 2011 and 2015.

In 2016 we completed a donation of Combat Paper Project artwork from the now disbanded traveling exhibitions collection to the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division. Information about the collection can be viewed in the link here.