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MONSON — Frontline Arts, a New Jersey-based veteran-led art program, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Frontline Paper project with an exhibition at the Monson Arts Gallery that runs through May 8.
Frontline Paper artists have traveled throughout the Northeast with their mobile workshop. The veterans who participate in the process cut uniforms (sometimes ones they wore themselves, and others that were donated) into small pieces to be made into paper pulp and then sheets of paper that they draw, write, paint and print on. While they are working, they engage in conversation with their fellow veterans about their military experience. The imagery and words on the paper often deal with responses to combat and returning home. The exhibit represents a decade of artwork created by these veteran artists with over 150 pieces of original artwork on display.
Ron Erickson, artist and program manager at Frontline Paper, spoke at the opening reception. In explaining how the program works.
“Coming home is hard,” he said. “When you make a piece of art and hang it on the wall, that gives a little seed to start a conversation. When you talk about it once, you can talk about it again.”
The workshops are a place for veterans to come together and speak freely.
Director of Monson Arts Chantal Harris said, “It has been amazing to see how impactful this work is. Everyone who walks through feels the emotional power in this room.”
Monson Arts has partnered with Frontline Arts to award an artist in residence placement to Mark Oldland, beginning in October. Oldland, of New Jersey, is an artist and veteran who has participated in many workshops with Frontline.
The Monson Arts Gallery is at 8 Greenville Road, Monson, and is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, or by appointment by calling 207-997-2070.
