"The Things They Carried:  Mementos from Kirksville Vietnam War Veterans" opened last week at the Kirksville Arts Association Arts Center. Congratulations to the student curators:  Matt Carlson, Melinda Gross, Luke Icenogle, Michele Kaminski (alumna), Karin Li, Sam Lyons, Cecilia Muruato, and Valerie Lazalier.  This exhibition, organized and curated by Truman State University students (mostly Art History majors or minors, and mostly Art History Society members), focuses on the experiences of Kirksville vets and displays information about and items associated with those vets service overseas.  To prepare for the exhibition, the students interviewed six local veterans and those vets have generously and graciously loaned pictures, uniforms, and other items to the exhibition.  In addition, the show features some other items from other Kirksville residents as well as photographs from the National Archives in Washington D.C.

The exhibition will be on display in the Arts Center through Friday, February 26, 2010.  For directions and gallery hours, please visit:  http://www.kirksvillearts.com/newsite/

This show is part of the larger The Big Read project going on in Kirksville during February and March 2010.  Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Big Read focuses on increasing reading in communities across the country.  For the Kirksville Big Read, residents will be reading Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, which focuses on the Vietnam War.  For more information on The Big Read, to obtain a book, or participate in other related activities, please visit:  http://bigread.truman.edu or call (660)785.4383.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

Exhibition organizers and curators Michele Kaminski, Melinda Gross, Cecilia Muruato, Valerie Lazalier, Karin Li, Luke Icenogle, Samantha Lyons, and Matt Carlson at the exhibition opening.
 
Views of the Exhibition: