Intallation of "Portraits and Memories: Legacies of Service" at the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago

It hardly seems possible that my show "Portraits and Memories: Legacies of Service" has been on exhibit at the National Veterans Art Museum for six weeks and will be de-installed in two weeks.  So much has happened during the show with the Artist Reception on August 24, then the Creative Community Workshop "That Reminds Me" on September 30, the Chicago Women's Caucus for Art visited the show on October 14 for an Artist Talk and gallery tour, and then Friday, October 20 I will be on a panel with Dr. Anna Bretschneider, Chief, Hines VA Education Service, and three veterans, Virigl Mathis, Bill Crist and Adam Navarro Lowery.  The title of the panel discussion is "Intersection of Experiences".
 For now I will share photos from the opening reception on August 24.

http://www.nvam.org/Module/Event/EventDetail/Upcoming_Exhibit:_%22Portraits_and_Memories:_Legacies_of_Service%22?id=36

Upcoming Exhibit: "Portraits and Memories: Legacies of Service"

Date: 8/22/2017 - 10/28/2017

The National Veterans Art Museum (NVAM) is proud to present its upcoming exhibition, Portraits and Memories: Legacies of Service by Chicago-area artist Jeanine Hill­-Soldner. The exhibit will showcase two series of oil paintings: Portraits of American Veterans, and Memories of an Era: Reflections of Our Time.

Portraits and Memories: Legacies of Service presents a unique perspective on an experience of military service that is often overlooked–that of the spouse, parent, sibling, or child of an active duty service member or veteran. The juxtaposition of veteran portraits with scenes of family life highlights an integral aspect of military culture that is rarely explored. Jeanine Hill­-Soldner grew up in a military family. Her father, Sgt. Maj. Dan L. Hill, was a 30­-year U.S. Marine Corps Veteran who served in WWII, Korea, and completed twotours in Vietnam. After he passed away, the artist felt compelled to create work that honored his service and experiences along with those of other military veterans and members of their communities. Personal stories and memory are integral to her work as Hill­-Soldner links the experiences of veterans and those of their loved ones through a poignant visual program.

Portraits of American Veterans

The creation of Portraits of American Veterans began in 2009 and features the likenesses of 24 veterans who sat in the artist’s studio as she sketched and painted the initial impression of each person. Each veteran was asked to bring significant objects from their military experience with them, and to share memories of their service as Hill­-Soldner painted which further aided in the capturing of each individual’s personality

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Memories of an Era: Reflections of Our Time

The paintings in this series are derived from family photographs taken near the Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station in Oahu, Hawaii during Dan L. Hill’s first tour in Vietnam, paired with photos he took himself while deployed. In each painting, scenes of the everyday life of the women and children of the Hill family are depicted alongside the daily realities of war featuring the men of the Marine Third Reconnaissance Battalion, Bravo Company. Together these paintings develop a chronicle that reaches across time and space to connect events as they may have occurred simultaneously, many miles apart. These works underline the significance of memory and illustrate how experiences shape veterans, their families, and military communities as a whole.

Jeanine Hill­-Soldner’s work offers an important perspective on war as seen through the eyes of the children and spouses of service members. Side by side these two series of paintings offer a glimpse into the way in which military service has both defined the artist’s life, and driven decades of contemplation about the impact that war has had on hers and others’ lives.

Portraits and Memories: Legacies of Service will be on display beginning Tuesday,    August 22nd through Saturday, October 28th, 2017 with an

I have a very busy exhibition schedule in the coming months.  Here are a few highlights of what I've been working on 

GALLERY/ MUSEUM EXHIBITS Summer-Fall 2017          

June 11- August 6

“Chicago Society of Artists Membership Show”

Anderson Arts Center

121 Sixty-Sixth St., Kenosha, WIS

Reception: June 11, 1:30- 4:00 p.m.

July 6– 30

“Listen” Invitational Exhibit

Old Courthouse Art Center

101 Johnson St., Woodstock, IL

Reception: Saturday July 15- 6-9 p.m.

July 14- August 5

“Chicago Artists Interpret Shakespeare As They Like It”

Water Street Studios

160 S. Water Street, Batavia, IL

Artist Reception: Friday July 14, 6-9 p.m.

November 4- December 14

“Transmogrification”

Chicago Women’s Caucus for Art

Elmhurst Art Museum, Art Guild Gallery

150 Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst, IL

Artist reception: Friday November 10, 7-9 pm

 August 22- October 28

“Portraits and Memories: Legacies of Service”

National Veterans Art Museum

4041 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Reception: Friday August 24, 6-9 pm

 

"Out of the Darkness" oil on canvas, 40"x 30" is on exhibit in Woodstock, Illinois at the Old Courthouse Art Center in the show "LISTEN".

"Symmetrical Division" oil on canvas, 48"x 36" will show in the Chicago Women's Caucus for Art juried show "Transmogrification" in Elmhurst at the Elmhurst Museum, Art League Gallery.

Poster for the Shakespeare Show in Batavia.

"King Lear's Gilded Butterflies" oil on canvas, 24"x 24" will be showing in Batavia, Illinois in the exhibit "Chicago Artists Interpret Shakespeare; As They Like It"

Spring / Summer Newsletter

Busy Start for 2017

Yes, I marched in the Women's March on January 21 in Chicago.  This is my interpretation of the day in oil on canvas 40"x 40" titled "An American Moment"

 I haven't been keeping up with social media, blogging and updating my web site lately.  The day to day studio work and living in this crazy world have kept me busy and not motivated to concern myself with the on-line world.

 I have included in the most recent musing a post that I wrote last month but did not publish........

My last post was from November, so I am a bit behind on blogging.  Life is good and always moving forward.  It seems like my attention was constantly turned to the POTUS election.  Yes, I know too much in the press and social media, and that is exactly why my artist eyes have been absorbed in the garishly visual and noisy spectacle.  Reading and painting have always been my way of coping to understand and figure out the logic, or lack thereof, that propels the country I love into a spiral of confusion and "us and them" (ie. dems vs repubs).  Well to say the least, like many artists, when I am looking for solace or answers I look to literature, art, and the musings of great authors of the past who recorded the spectacles of their times in prose and or paint.  You see art is gives us meaning and beyond sound bites, tweets and talking heads who are faker than their "fake news".