JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. –
The National Constitution Center requests paintings and sketches by American soldiers in the line of duty to be featured with the upcoming exhibition 'Art of the American Soldier', which opens Sept. 24.
The more than 250 works in the exhibition are drawn from the Army's rarely-seen collection of more than 15,000 works from the Army Art Program. The works were in curatorial storage in Washington, D.C. for decades until The National Constitution Center, in partnership with the U.S. Army Center of Military History and the National Museum of the United States Army, decided to create this exhibition, debuting at the Center.
'Art of the American Soldier' features paintings and sketches from 1918 to the present and covers World War I to the current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The exhibition is broken into five sections: Introduction, A Soldier's Life, A Soldier's Duty, A Soldier's Sacrifice and The American Soldier; it covers the day-in and day-out duties of American soldiers and their way of life.
"The National Constitution Center is proud to make this remarkable collection available to the public for the first time. Though this visual record is familiar to few, it is no less powerful in its ability to convey and evoke the human experience of military conflict," said National Constitution Center President and CEO David Eisner. "These first-hand expressions of the realities of war uniquely and vividly trace the lives of the brave men and women who have answered the Constitution's call to 'provide for the common defense.'"
The exhibition opens Sept. 24 but a companion website went online in July. This online gallery - www.constitutioncenter.org/artoftheamericansoldier - provides a chance for active military and veterans from all branches of the Armed Forces to submit artwork representing their time in service. Work may also be submitted by friends or family members on behalf of servicemembers who have passed away. Not only will this collection be available online but also selected works will be on display via computer kiosk in the exhibition. Submissions should be JPGs and can be up to 3MB in size.
During World War I, the Army had no official art program but commissioned eight artists in the Corps of Engineers to record their experiences in Europe. The importance of military art as historical record was recognized in 1942 when the Army selected 42 artists and established a War Art Unit. The unit was active in the Pacific Theater until Congress cut funding in 1943. With the help of Life magazine and Abbott Laboratories, the soldier-artists were given the same support as media correspondents. By the end of the war, more than 2,000 works had been produced by soldiers and the Historical Properties Section was established to maintain the collection.
Since then, official Army artists have documented combat in Vietnam; operations in Thailand, Japan, Europe, Panama and Southwest Asia; humanitarian efforts in Somalia; disaster relief; the Gulf War and peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. The collection is still growing as deployed solider-artists continue to capture operations in ink and paint.
'Art of the American Soldier' runs through Jan. 10, 2011 at The National Constitution Center, located at 525 Arch St. at Philadelphia's Independence Mall. Admission to the exhibition is free with regular museum admission of $12 for adults, $11 for seniors ages 65 and over and $8 for children ages 4-12. Veterans and military families will receive $2 off admission. Active military personnel, career military retirees and children ages 3 and under are free. Group rates are also available. iPod audio tours cost an additional $5. For ticket information, call (215) 409-6700 or visit www.constitutioncenter.org.