This piece began as a demonstration of my art… Every November I participate in a local art festival called “ARTWORKS”. It is unique in that it requires the artists to share their art medium techniques. I decided to demonstrate my mixed media collage by inviting show visitors to participate by painting, collaging and/or stenciling one of the pre-cut sections I had prepared, and create the American flag. Veterans day was two weeks prior to the art show and many of my family members and friends have served in the military, so my plan was to donate proceeds from the sale of the finished piece to a Veterans organization. Fifty to sixty visitors of all ages collaborated to create the elements for this collage. Some of them were veterans. Some were children or grandchildren of veterans. Some of them just wanted to be a part of the project. After the artshow, I took the flag back to my studio to finish filling in all the blanks. I created the stars using paper mache and found some very cool old stamps from the 50’s & 60’s that brought a bit of historical markers to the piece.
Proceeds from the sale of “Stars & Stripes” will go to a local chapter of NVHS (National Veterans Homeless Support). NVHS offers 3 unique programs, here in Brevard County, to assist homeless vets.
From their website: Founded in 2008, NVHS is a community-based organization formed by veterans with the goal of locating and assisting the 1,300 and more homeless veterans that are currently living in the parks, woods, and streets of Central Florida, and to get them off the streets permanently. What makes NVHS truly unique is the fact that we tackle homelessness directly where it thrives…on the streets of our community.
Unlike every other homeless service provider in the State of Florida, who wait patiently for homeless to reach out to them, we proactively go out to find our clients where they live, provide basic needs to ensure their survival and build rapport, and then connect them to any community organization that offers a service beneficial to them, rapidly moving from homeless to housed. To read more about them, go to: https://nvhs.org/
