Veterans’ essences captured in gallery
WHO: The Butler Art Center
WHAT: Veterans Show
WHEN: From noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays until Dec. 3
WHERE: 344 S. Main St., Butler
ADMISSION: Free
From painting buildings with the U.S. Air Force in the 1970s to drawing portraits at the Butler Art Center, Paul Means has seldom not had a brush in hand.
Means found himself on the other side of the canvas earlier this year when the portrait group at the Butler Art Center needed a model to fill in on a sketching day.
Having already painted several other service personnel, Means said he was happy to help fill out the gallery for fellow veteran Terry Hagen, who organized the display.
“It was really engaging talking with the veterans,” Means said. “When Terry approached us about the show, we just jumped on it.”
The Butler Art Center opened its Veterans Show with a reception Friday night, where many of the artists and portrait models talked to viewers about the work on display. Hagen, a veteran of the Army, said he began organizing the show in January, with a plan to display dozens of veterans portraits in the gallery on Veterans Day.
The gallery contains more than 100 charcoal portraits by about 20 artists, depicting 34 models who are mostly military veterans, but also local police and emergency response workers.
Hagen, who also is an artist, said sketching veterans was an interesting experience.
“They were great conversationalists, you just talk about stuff they went through,” Hagen said. “It gave us people to sit, and it made them feel good to talk and just pose.”
Hagen said the art center recruited models through the VA Butler Healthcare and Robin’s Home. While some of the veterans were apprehensive about modeling, Hagen said most of them became more relaxed as the artists worked, which also made for better drawings.
“The more open they get, the more relaxed, then the better you can paint them,” Hagen said. “I remember them all.”
For Jen Spryn, a painter from Butler, working in a different medium was a challenge added on top of sketching a different model every week. However, she said the experience taught her a lot more than just artistic skills.
“Every one of them has an interesting story,” Spryn said. “Sometimes we had people who didn’t want to talk that much, but you get them to tell a story. When people are talking, you get better perspectives; you also get to hear who they are.”
Being a model was a little nerve-wracking for Charles Jennings, a Navy veteran from Butler. However, he ended up enjoying the experience and even enjoyed the portraits artists made of him.
“It was interesting,” Jennings said. “There were four artists there the day I posed. They just told me to pick something and stare at it.
“I just talked about stories that happened, there was a back and forth. Everybody had their own interpretation.”
Hagen said the gallery will be up until Dec. 3, at which point, the images would be displayed at the VA Butler Healthcare. After that display, all of the models will get to take their portraits home with them. Additionally, all of the participants who attended the reception Friday received an American flag.
Hagen also commended the models and the artists for helping to create a unique show at the art center.
“Some are absolutely wonderful,” Hagen said.
The experience was equally rewarding for Means, who is retired now, but does a little painting when asked.
He said one of the most interesting parts of the gallery was hearing about the experiences of other veterans compared to his own.
“The respect is always there,” Means said. “It was nice, some served in the Army, some Navy, and they all just talked.”
