UNF exhibition displays military uniforms transformed into art
Veterans and family members of those who served met at UNF for three-day weekends in October and November before Veterans Day to honor their service by breathing new life into old military uniforms, turning them into paper and printing imagery through an innovative pulp stencil printmaking process. The participants took their used dungaree shirts, camo, khakis and denim and transformed the items into a lasting piece of art that memorializes their service and provided, for many, a therapeutic experience.
An exhibition displaying the works created will kick off with an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, and be on view until Friday, Nov. 24, at the Lufrano Intercultural Gallery in the John A. Delaney Student Union, Building 58E.
“The workshop was exhilarating,” said Joni Hannigan, a lifelong learning student at UNF and veteran who participated in the workshop twice. “Usually, I try to hang on to things, but not in this case. There were lots of things I wanted to express, and I was really engaged!”
This project is a collaboration between the Department of Art, Art History and Design and the Military and Veterans Resource Center. The workshops were facilitated by artist and Iraq war veteran Drew Francis Cameron and funded by Enterprise Holdings Foundation.