What is War? A Memorial to the Memories of Veterans to be Established in the Center of the Nation

SAINT FRANCIS, Kan. - Feb. 11, 2014 - PRLog -- Almost seventy years after assisting in the liberation of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, a 90-year old soldier sits on his couch somewhere in Kansas. Recollecting the day his unit rolled through the gates, he can still smell the corpses as if they were stacked in his living room.

“You wouldn’t want that stink”, he says, in a very believable tone.

The parameters of human existence are strenuous enough without the extra duty of coping with the memories of war. People of all walks of life kill themselves. But veterans are committing suicide in staggeringly disproportionate numbers, due to the psychological toll of PTSD and other trauma related disorders.

Perhaps the most destructive facet of trauma is in its power to divide and alienate. There are those who understand the reality of war, and then there’s the rest of us. This gap in perspective intensifies the mental anguish experienced by veterans – because it isolates them from wives, husbands, children, parents, coworkers,  and friends. We simply can’t understand because we weren’t there.

What is War? (www.vvvart.org) is an art show that provides veterans a forum to answer that very question. Presented by the 555 Collective (www.555c.org) and the Cheyenne Center for Creativity, the show marks the first step in establishing a permanent memorial to the memories of veterans, to be placed in the center of the nation. This is more than an opportunity to demonstrate a breadth of veteran talent via any medium of visual or literary art – it is a chance to bridge the gap of understanding that exists between the veteran and civilian worlds – an opening for veterans to transmit the impact of war on their humanity, using art as the channel.

All veterans with any insight into war are invited to participate in the show, and to take a role in the development of the memorial. The show itself will open concurrent with Memorial Day 2014, and run through early summer. The main exhibition will be held inside the Cheyenne Center’s Quincy Gallery, located just off of the main street of St. Francis, Kansas. Art can also be exhibited in St. Francis’ historic Sawhill Park (adjacent to the county courthouse), and on the main street itself. Essentially, the entire town is available as a venue.

The memorial will be established inside the headquarters of the 555 Collective, which occupies an old church building in the same town. St. Francis is the perfect place for such a destination - known for its old-school sense of community and anxiety-free living, it is nestled along the Republican River in the northwest corner of Kansas, easily accessible on US Highways 36 and 27, and an easy drive to and from Denver.

The Cheyenne Center for Creativity, CC4C, is a not for profit corporation launched in St. Francis, KS, on May 2, 2012, for the purpose of inspiring and promoting the development of a creative community through exhibits, recitals, workshops, classes and lectures. This creative community extends beyond St. Francis to the Tri-State region of NW Kansas, SW Nebraska, and Eastern Colorado.

The 555 Collective is an organization founded on the premise that art is humanity’s greatest resource in overcoming our greatest challenge to mental well-being – trauma. Established in Texas in 2010, it publishes an online magazine and conducts creative projects that benefit various populations affected by trauma related disorders.

Contact information

CC4C

Janet Carman, Director

Jjocarman@hotmail.com

785-332-3569

The 555 Collective

info@555c.org

785-332-5457