THE WAR EXPERIENCE PROJECT AT 906 BROADWAY >>>

I heard about this show from Lisa Kinoshita from Mineral Gallery.  It's part of the amazing, on-going Spaceworks Tacoma, and it's called The War Experience Project.  See it at 906 Broadway in downtown Tacoma. There will be an open house this weekend, April 15-17, and works from the project will be on view there until April 30.

The War Experience Project is the brainchild (and heart child) of artist and Iraq War veteran Rick Lawson.

Lawson says that after returning home from combat duty in Balad, Iraq in 2004-2005 he had a hard time answering questions from friends about what the experience had been like. He took a humanities course at Western Washington University in which they studied the 11^th century Bayeux Tapesty, which portrayed the Battle of Hastings. That study was the inspiration for this project. As quoted on the Spaceworks Tacoma website, Lawson says he dug his uniform from "the deepest, darkest part of my closet so I wouldn't have to access it." He painted his memories of war on the back of his uniform, and - finding the experience to be cathartic - he enlisted other war veterans to paint their memories.

The ongoing project includes art workshops for veterans. Lawson says the workshops, which are conducted in a private setting, offer "an intuitive outlet for soldiers who find it difficult to verbalize their experience."

Following a three-month residence at the Spaceworks space at 906 Broadway, a full exhibition of The War Experience Project will open on Veterans Day, Nov. 11 with a full day of activities. After that it is expected to go on a world tour.

"The uniforms are devastating; there is a lot of personal writing on them, and walking through the gallery has the effect of listening to a long, sad murmur of conversation," Kinoshita says.

She adds: "I've never seen anything like it. Some of the veterans came back for return sessions and you can see the progression of their thinking as the outer layers and emotional defenses surrounding their experience are pulled back; it is rending. If you go, ask to see the three pieces by a woman named Patty - wow - she started out with sort of cliché imagery, then went to some very dark, deep places."

For more information check out the official Spaceworks Tacoma blog.

Thanks to Lisa Kinoshita for steering me to this, and watch for my blog about Kinoshita in this spot next week.