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the OE BONHAM Jproject © We are not our wounds.™ The Joe Bonham Project Drawing the Stories of America’s Wounded Weterans. s the Global War on Terror enters its second decade, A service members are surviving the most catas- trophic wounds imaginable. Yet even as medical science continues to advance to address ever more devastating injuries, our nation seems to want to forget the new generation of ‘Joe Bonhams’. In February 2011, a group of artists began docu- menting the experiences of service members going through stateside medical treatment, through art. Work- ing primarily at in-patient surgical shock-trauma wards, the artists spend time with some of the most physically, battle-damaged soldiers, sailors and Marines. Many of the subjects are patients mere weeks after being injured in IED blasts and fire fights in Afghanistan. Most have endured multiple traumatic amputation injuries and disfiguring facial wounds, and will endure months of operations and challenging physical therapy. With them on this journey back to wholeness are often equally traumatized family members. All have volunteered to be sketched. Several of The Joe Bonham Project artists are seasoned war artists; Michael Fay, Richard Johnson, Steve Mumford, Victor Juhasz, Roman Genn, Kristopher Battles, and Rob Bates have each embedded with US combat units in both Iraq and Afghanistan in order to create art. Others, like Jeffrey Fisher, Fred Harper, Jess Ruliffson, Ray Alma, Josh Korenblat, and Bill Harris have friends and family who have, or are currently serving in the armed forces. The Joe Bonham Project, will keep the dedication, sacri- fices and indomitable spirit of our wounded warriors present and accounted for. The Artists. Ray Alma, 47, hails from Queens, NY. He graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His work can be seen in many publications, to in- clude Mad magazine. He is a member of the National Cartoonists Society, The Bullet They Dug Out of Me, water- and has recently color on paper, 2012 ventured into ani- mation, storyboarding an updated version of the classic cartoon “Speed Racer.” Rob Bates, 29, is a former Marine infantryman who served in Afghanistan. He lives in Concord, NC, with his wife and and son, and attends the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he is Sergeant Jacks Resting, majoring in Fine Arts. graphite on paper, 2012 Kristopher J. Battles, 44, is a Marine Corps Combat Artist and professional portraitist. As a combat artist, he de- ployed twice to Iraq, once to Afghani- stan and Lance Corporal Patrick Howard, Wounded in July once to Haiti, of 2006 in Ramadi, Iraq, oil paint on panel, 2006 following the devastating earthquake of 2010. Kris lives in Fredericksburg, VA, with his wife and three young children, and is pursuing an MFA in Illustration from the University of Hartford. Emily Bolin, 23, from Mechanicsburg, VA, is a recent grad- uate of the Virginia Commonwealth University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in Painting and Printmaking. Mike Stringer, Sketch pencil on paper, 2012 Michael D. Fay, CWO-2, USMC (Ret), 59, is a former Marine Corps Combat Artist who has been deploy- ed twice each to Iraq and Afghanistan; and once to Afghanistan as an embedded civilian war artist/correspon- dent. In addition to founding ‘The Joe Lance Corporal Kyle Carpenter Bonham Project’, pencil on watercolor paper, 2011 he also founded the International Society of War Artists. He has a BS in Art Education from Penn State and an MFA in Illustration from the University of Hartford. Mike lives with his wife, also a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, in Fredericks- burg, VA. Jeffrey Fisher, 56, graduated from the Parsons School of Design, in New York City, and has been an illustrator for over 25 years. His art has been shown in galleries from Long Island to Washington, DC, and in publications as diverse as Readers’ Digest and Smithsonian. His subjects range from sports to fashion to science fiction. He lives with his wife in Smithtown, LI. They have two grown children. Family Support, Private First Class Timothy Donley, USMC, watercolor on paper, 2012 Roman Genn, 40, is a Russian ex-pat who grew up in Moscow, USSR. As a boy, he was infamous for his highly critical and mockingly satirical drawings taunting the Communist regime. He moved to the US in 1991 and resides in southern California, where he is the senior artist and a contri- buting editor for the Staff Sergeant David Lyon with Stanley, National Review magazine. Balboa Naval Hospital, pencil on paper, 2011 Fred Harper, 45, lives and works in New York City. He is known for his artwork in DC and Marvel comics, as well as newspapers ranging from The New York Observer to The Wall Street Journal. Specialist Derek McConnell, 10th Mountain Division gouache on paper, 2012 Bill Harris, 45, is an internationally renowned painter. He lives with his wife and three sons in Spotsylvania County, VA. Hero (Sergeant Blumenberg), oil in canvas, 2011 Richard Johnson, 47, is the graphics editor of the National Post of Canada. Spanning multiple disciplines, his photography and filmwork includes documentaries about war-torn Africa, and reportage art and correspondence from Afghanistan, where he has embedded with Corporal Zach Stinson, USMC, prismacolor both Coalition and native pencil on paper, 2011 forces. He recently returned from his third trip to Afghanistan; he has also embedded once in Iraq and multiple times with UN Peacekeeping Forces in Africa. Richard is a founding member of the International Society of War Artists. He lives in Toronto, Canada, with his wife and two children. Victor Juhasz, 58, has been a professional illustrator for almost 38 years, starting with The New York Times while still a student at Parsons School of Design. His work has been commissioned Specialist Derek McConnell, 10th Mountain Division, by national and colored pencil on paper, 2012 international magazines, newspapers, advertising agencies, and publishing houses, and he has been a long-time contributor to Rolling Stone, and also Golf magazine. Victor is a member of the US Air Force Art Program and has deployed to Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan to illus- trate American Forces in action. He lives in Averill Park, NY, with his wife, Terri Cole, the life coach and motiva- tional speaker. They have three grown sons and two grandchildren. Their youngest son is a SSgt in the Marine Corps Reserve. Joshua Korenblat, 34, originally from St. Louis, MO, now calls Washington, DC, home. He is an art director, artist, writer, and teacher. He has worked A Study, Cody Stanton, mixed media, as a graphic designer at 2012 National Geographic and Science News magazines, and is currently an Art Director at Graphicacy/Timeplots, a design firm specializing in infographics, as well as an instructor at the Boston Univ- ersity Center for Digital Image Arts, in Georgetown. Josh has an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University. Steve Mumford, 51, is a renowned artist from New York City, where he lives with his wife, the artist Inka Essenhigh, and infant son. He embedded as a war artist six times with the US Army in Iraq, and twice with the Marines in Afghanistan. Joe Olney, 34, was born in Iowa but now lives in Virginia. When his first attempt at college didn’t work out he joined the Army. After the Army, he joined the National Guard and deployed to Iraq where he was able to complete his studies in geology, graduating from The College of Cody, oil paint on William and Mary. After becom paper, 2012 ing a geologist and working in Texas, he realized that his true calling was art. He enrolled in the Virginia Commonwealth University and is pursuing a BFA in Painting and Printmaking. Jess Ruliffson, 27, is a freelance illustrator living in Brooklyn, NY. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 2008, and has been working on a comic book series based on interviews with veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Bethesda Page 9, ink on paper, 2011 For more about The Joe Bonham Project, please visit: joebonhamproject.blogspot.com coming soon: thejoebonhamproject.org Sisson Gallery Mackenzie Fine Arts Center 5101 Evergreen Dearborn, MI 48128 Sisson Gallery Hours: M-W: 9am – 4:30pm, !: 9am – 8pm, F: 9am – 3pm Solutions LLC Military Marketing Design: For further information, call: 313-845-6485 This event is free and open to the public. ©2013.

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