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The Joe Bonham Project and Combat Paper NJ
2-day sketching and papermaking workshop: Thursday and Friday, May 17-18, 2012, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm, on the campus of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD
Leaders: former combat artist Michael D. Fay (Marines) and Victor Juhasz, The Joe Bonham Project; David Keefe (Marines) and Eli Wright (Army), Combat Paper NJ
Open to: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Fort Belvoir Community Hospital patients, their families, and staff.
Register on FACEBOOK
Workshop synopsis:
Art is a powerful tool for communicating and healing. Participants in this workshop will work with a team of accomplished veteran/artists to create handmade paper and drawings, while sharing discussions of their combat and military experiences. The process of repurposing old combat fatigues into paper is a therapeutic exercise and results in unique sheets of paper. A variety of drawing, printing, and painting techniques will be demonstrated.
Have you ever wanted to have your portrait sketched? On Combat Paper, the artists from the John Bonham Project will draw portraits of veterans at WRNNMC and at Ft. Belvoir Hospital—made from old military uniforms that have been cut up, pulped, and formed into sheets of handmade paper. These drawing sessions lead to portraits which depict soldiers “in transition,” in a way that technologically-driven photographs often do not.
Workshop Leaders:
Michael D. Fay, founder, The Joe Bonham project, is a former Marine chief warrant officer and combat artist. The project is named after the protagonist of the novel Johnny Got His Gun, a World War I veteran who was so grievously wounded he could no longer communicate on his return to his country. The project’s goal is to ensure that recent U.S. veterans do not suffer Bonham’s fate—that they have a voice to articulate their experiences, and that voice is heard.
Victor Juhasz is a member of the Society of Illustrators and former courtroom artist. His son has been in the Marines for ten years. When sketching soldiers as part of The Joe Bonham Project, he draws exactly what he sees. Victor Juhasz is an award winning illustrator, a member of the Society of Illustrators, the USAF Art Program, the International Society of War Artists and the Joe Bonham Project. He sees his role with the Joe Bonham Project as documenting the seriously injured returning from the front lines for the public record and for awareness. His youngest son is a sergeant in the USMCR.
David Keefe, an established artist and professor of art at Montclair State University, NJ is a Marine and Director of Combat Paper NJ, located at the Printmaking Center of New Jersey. He created Combat Paper NJ so that veterans can attend weekly papermaking workshops and have a place to make art and to communicate about their past.
Eli Wright, a former Army medic in Iraq, is a graphic artist whose works and artists books have developed through his collaborations with Combat Paper Project, Combat Paper NJ, and Warrior Writers.
Workshop Host
: Seema Reza, Arts Program Coordinator, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda.Register on FACEBOOK
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