Nicholas Kuehn was 10 years old when terrorists flew into the twin
towers in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. “That was the day I decided to join
the Army,” he said.
Kuehn was just a kid, watching cartoons at the time. But his
resolve remained firm. At age 17, the Wausau native enlisted in the U.S. Army.
He served in the 1-35 AR, the 1st Battalion 35th Armored
Regiment, in Fort Bliss, Texas.
Now a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Kuehn
shared that memory with Grace Ballweg, one of 21 student artists. Ballweg of
Platteville expressed the story in a print that showed dark towers with a
brightly colored screen of cartoon characters between them.
It was part of a Veteran Print Project involving students in two
courses at UW-Stevens Point in the spring semester.
The results will be at the Edna Carlsten Gallery in the Noel Fine
Art Center, Friday, June 5, through Monday, Sept. 14. A closing reception will
be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14. Check www.uwsp.edu/art-design/Pages/Exhibitions/carlsten.aspx for gallery hours.
Many returning veterans who are new to college take a first-year
seminar titled “Back
from the Front: Transitioning from the Military to Civilian Life.” David
Chrisinger, a UW-Stevens Point graduate who developed and teaches the class,
worked with Art and Design Professor Bob Erickson to pair his veteran-students
with students in a printmaking class. The veterans each shared an experience,
and the student artists created a visual representation of it.
“This is an exercise in trust,” said Yvette Pino, of the
Wisconsin-based Veteran Print Project. “The veteran has to put trust in the
artist to tell their story. The artist has to trust they’re getting it right,”
said Pino, an Iraq war veteran who found the intersection of storytelling and
art a healing place for veterans.
Ballweg’s print captures a colorful TV screen and airplane on a
decidedly dark moment Sept. 11, when many children and adults watched planes,
hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists, fly into the World Trade Center towers.
Ballweg’s print captures the innocence of childhood surrounded by the stark
reality of that day, with the towers portrayed in dark chalk.
The UW-Stevens Point Veteran Print Project will be on display
at the Kenosha Public Museum from Saturday, July 4, to Sunday, Nov. 15.
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