Veteran Print Project prints featured in New York gallery

Artwork by Kiersten Wohlgemuth for Army veteran John Koeppen. Image courtesy of Veteran Print Project.

The National Veterans Resource Center Gallery in Syracuse, New York is currently exhibiting selected works from the Veteran Print Project, including 13 prints by Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design alumni and faculty. The exhibition runs through March 10, 2023.

Works by Lily Solheim ’20 (New Studio Practice: Fine Arts), Akira Mabon ’20 (NSP: Fine Arts), Maria Alfaro ’20 (NSP: Fine Arts), Ray Powers ’20 (NSP: Fine Arts), Kiersten Wohlgemuth ’21 (NSP: Fine Arts), August-Lain Weickert ’21 (NSP: Fine Arts) and Pamela Aranda ’21 (NSP: Fine Arts) are currently on view at the exhibition. Matthew Presutti, MIAD adjunct faculty member and printmaking lab technician, is also featured in the show.

Yvette Pino, founder of the Veteran Print Project, began working with MIAD after meeting Professor Rina Yoon at a printmaking event in Madison. “Part of MIAD’s curriculum is to get students out into the community,” says Pino. “They’re constantly looking for different classroom programs that involve community engagement.” The Veteran Print Project, which “brings artists and veterans together in dialogue to visualize the experiences of veterans through the traditional methods of fine art print,” was a perfect collaboration.

“Students have to meet a new demographic, a perfect stranger, and interview them and get to know who they are,” explains Pino. “The resulting artwork they create is incredibly beautiful.” The exhibition at the National Veterans Resource Center Gallery features a diverse array of beautifully composed work that impressed organizers. “We have LGBTQ veterans, Latino veterans, women veterans… It goes beyond the standard concept of what people think a veteran is,” says Pino.

The National Veterans Resource Center Gallery aims to share veterans’ experiences through art as part of Syracuse University’s D’Aniello Institute for Veteran and Family Resources. Pino, herself an alum of the institute, appreciates coming full circle to exhibit in the new gallery space. “Pairing up students with the veterans challenges the students to get outside that comfort zone of the contemporary art world,” says Pino. “They’re able to really embrace it and use their talent with that contemporary art feel while getting personal with another human being outside of their wheelhouse of friends and community.”

MIAD’s collaboration with the Veteran Print Project is still going strong. Keep up with the Veteran Print Project on Instagram and learn more about MIAD’s NSP: Fine Arts major to stay up to date on the latest news about the Veteran Print Project at MIAD!