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 Soldier Citizen, 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 Soldier Citizen (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