Published: 10/18/2019 9:31:21 PM
Modified: 10/18/2019 9:31:09 PM
WARE — The Massachusetts Veterans Art Show opens Nov. 1 at the Art Works Gallery, 69 Main St. The art show, which is organized by The Brookfield Institute, will run through Nov. 30.
The theme of the show is “Perspectives on Military Service” and artwork has been entered by 20 veterans and active-duty military members. Art pieces include expressions of any form of military service, artistic reflections about combat, women in the military or the experience of the transition home. Entries are from all over the region.
“The purpose of the exhibit is twofold,” said Beverly Prestwood-Taylor, executive director of The Brookfield Institute. “It’s to provide a space for veterans to create art to express and process their experiences and also to give the public a better understanding of military experience.”
There will be a wine-and-cheese reception for the artists and the community from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16, at the gallery.
Some of the art will be for sale. There will be a People’s Choice Award given out at the gallery, Friday, Nov. 28. Categories are Best in Show and Greatest Impact.
Steve Jones, founder of Warrior’s Art Room, has entered “CAS-EVAC” in the show. He admits he didn’t consider himself an artist until graduate school, when he signed up for an art class mainly to fulfill a humanities credit. He learned that not every piece has to be a masterpiece.
“It wasn’t about the outcome; it’s about the process,” Jones said. “And through that process I created a piece with my feelings and emotions that pretty much set me free from my ‘awake-time’ PTSD symptoms. I got what I couldn’t talk about out on paper — and the rest I could talk about.”
Art Works Gallery hours are 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday; and 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday.
The show is sponsored by Monson Savings Bank and the Warrior’s Art Room. For more information, go to www.brookfieldinstitute.org or call or text 413-563-7282.