The second day of Military and Veteran Appreciation Week, titled "Empowerment Student Showcase: Changing Lives Through Education," featured beautiful artwork in different mediums by active military personnel and veterans and their families. The Nov. 4 event also featured donated pieces that were auctioned to raise funds for the Military Legacy Scholarship, with proceeds going to AWC students who are active or retired military.
Beautiful pottery pieces, gorgeous paintings, breathtaking photography and much more lined the walls of the Schoening Conference Center as students and faculty enjoyed a relaxing evening of art-viewing and discussions with the artists, along with a fierce bidding war near the end of the event.
Although it was a silent auction, the bidders became competitive over certain pieces, especially a lovely turquoise-colored bead necklace by artist Michael Chino. In the end, the piece went for $65 to Jesse Esquivel, a Systems Engineering major and active-duty Marine.
"I wanted it so bad, I just had to win," said Esquivel.
Artists featured were Navy veteran Delene Routzen-Chino, who showcased picture frames with beautiful Native American designs, and her husband Michael Chino, who creates gorgeous bead jewelry in a style called Peyote Stich.
Jessica Weisner, fresh out of the United States Marine Corps (USMC), showcased numerous acrylic paintings.
"I barely started getting into art this year," said Weisner. "I started messing around just by accident. It's very therapeutic."
One USMC dependent Patricia Oxford, who has been doing art since she was a child, works with charcoal, graphite, color pencil and acrylic paint. Deborah Rose, wife of USMC veteran Bill Rose, the Compliance Specialist for Veteran's Services at AWC, featured her wood-burning art and gourd painting. And Miguel Pulido, USMC veteran and blacksmithing teacher at AWC, showcased beautiful works of metallurgy and ceramic.
"I took welding after I got out of the Marines," said Pulido. "Currently I'm taking ceramics classes, and I'm hooked."
Navy Veteran and event organizer Gabriela Siqueiros-Herwig, along with her son Jason Herwig and daughter Elisa Stephens, also showcased ceramic pieces. She said her driving force has been Steve Dilley, the ceramics professor at AWC.
"I've never been artistic until now," said Siqueiros-Herwig. "Now I take my 14-year-old son to the Veteran's Art Project, where we can spend time with vets and their family and enjoy ourselves."
The Veteran's Art Project, which many of these artists attend to create their pieces, meets every Tuesday from 7-9 p.m. in the AWC ceramics lab, AB 105, and is intended to help veterans stay busy, learn to tap into their inner creativity and become involved citizens as they transition into the civilian world.
"Every day 22 veteran's commit suicide; that's almost one every hour," said Siqueiros-Herwig. "Our goal is to help veterans become active members of society through art and creativity and to try and keep them out of trouble. We want to let them know they are not alone."
Photo by: Connie Garcia
