By: Courtney Mengel ’19, staff writer

The Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery’s next exhibition will show soldiers’ intimate and varied experiences of war.

Stemming from a desire to explore the nature and impact of war through a first-hand experience, “Witness to War” provides an altogether raw and starkly intimate introspective of the experience of war and its aftermath.

The exhibition will feature paintings, photographs and sculptures– some of which were completed by retired Marine and former combat artist Michael D. Fay, adjunct professor of art and visual culture. The works will be categorized into three sections: “Witness to Combat,” “Witness to Trauma” and “Witness to Remembrance.”

“By dividing an exhibition into sections, one provides a perspective through which the viewer can better understand and appreciate the work,” Rebecca Worhach ’16, assistant of the Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, said. “The sections of this exhibition highlight the works within each section as distinctive elements of the multi-faceted experience that is war.”

Another work to be featured in the exhibition is “Prayer Boots” by Robin Brooks of the U.S. Navy. The work is an assemblage of five pairs of used combat boots that hang from a heavy link chain. Visitors will have the opportunity to write their own messages or prayers and place them inside the boots.

“One of the ideas behind the exhibition is how the arts can help to promote healing to those traumatized by war,” Dr. Barbara McNulty, director of the Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, said. “We wanted to have the exhibition serve in a real way to do this.”

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Gallery will hold a papermaking workshop on Nov. 26 with Drew Matott, printmaker and co-founder of the Peace Paper Project. Those who attend can create paper out of symbolic material – from military uniforms to refugee clothing – through a transformative experience.

In addition, the Gallery will host a Veteran’s Poetry workshop on Nov. 15 with Frederick Foote, a retired U.S. Navy physician, author and director of the Warrior Poetry Project at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

“Witness to War” will run until Dec. 16. The opening reception is Nov. 9, at 5 p.m. in Zimmerman Recital Hall of the Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery. This event is free and open to the public.