Art Smith teaches a class

(MOORESTOWN, NJ) -- Now through December 16, 2024, local active duty military and veterans will exhibit their artwork at Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown. The United States Veterans and Active Duty Military Exhibition is a special exhibition of art by military members and veterans that ranges from in all mediums.

There will be an artists’ reception on Saturday, November 16 from 2:00pm-5:00pm at Perkins Center Moorestown’s Main Gallery. Artwork will be for sale, with proceeds going to the artists. Visiting the exhibition is free. Perkins Center for the Arts is located at 395 Kings Highway in Moorestown, New Jersey.

Perkins Center, the region’s leading arts education center with locations in Moorestown and Collingswood, supports area veterans all year long. Active duty military and veterans get free memberships and. Perkins offers free veterans-only art classes that cover drawing, modes of self-expression, and more.

More than 50 students have participated in these free classes, taught by artist Art Smith every Tuesday from 9:00am to noon. Students range widely in skill and experience; for example: a PAFA grad or an 80-year-old who hasn’t made art since elementary school. They represent veterans from the Vietnam era to the Iraq war. Many have seen combat.

“Making art isn’t going to cure a crushed hip or PTSD, but working on art can alleviate mental, physical, and psychological pain,” said Art Smith. “After the military, some have said they didn’t feel like they had a purpose. Veterans can become isolated. I’ve heard participants say that now they have a purpose, and they can talk with each other, peer to peer.”

This exhibition is generously underwritten by Perkins’ donors and Wegmans of Mt. Laurel.

Perkins Center for the Arts is a regional, multi-disciplinary arts education center with locations in Moorestown and Collingswood, New Jersey. With a mission to enrich lives, inspire life-long learning, and cultivate intercultural experiences, Perkins Center for the Arts offers a music conservatory, visual and performing arts classes, exhibitions, concerts, artist-led school residency programs, summer camp, Folklife Center, and community enrichment projects.

Made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.