Veteran Art Movement

Veteran Art Movement The emerging Veteran Art Movement is a decentralized network of veterans and service members committe

The emerging Veteran Art Movement is not a organization but a decentralized network of veterans committed to using creative practices to transform themselves and American society.

This week's RTLW artist feature brings back a familiar face. Brittney Chantele Aston left a lasting impression at our 2...
08/20/2026

This week's RTLW artist feature brings back a familiar face. Brittney Chantele Aston left a lasting impression at our 2023 summit with a powerful music performance, and now they're back with new works to share!

Brittney is a multidisciplinary artist working across film, painting, ceramics, music, and performance. Their work comes out of lived experience as a U.S. Army veteran and a disabled artist navigating fibromyalgia and PTSD. They use endurance, repetition, and material transformation to explore what the body carries, what it’s forced to carry, and what it refuses. Their work pushes against ideas of strength, control, and productivity, tracing how institutional systems stay in the body long after you leave them.

Check out their page for more, and find their music on all music streaming platforms.

© Brittney Chantele Aston. Images courtesy of the artist, and

07/29/2026

Introducing another recipient of the 2026 Veteran Art Fellowship: Jules Vaquera

Jules is a radical feminist, anti-imperialist, q***r, anarchist songwriter and activist. Her music has two focuses: Personal healing and social justice issues. She heals both by processing her emotions through song, and by writing music that contributes to her fight for justice—a fight she takes part in as a way to heal the deep regret and shame she feels around her military service. She performs both solo and with her band The Guillotinas .

🎶 Listen to "Stolen Land" by The Guillotinas and stick around for Jules's reflections on her practice at the end of the reel!

Congratulations, Jules! We're excited to support you!

© Jules Vaquera & The Guillotinas. Video courtesy of the artist.

This week’s RTLW Artist Feature turns the spotlight on F***y Garcia F***y is a first-generation Salvadoran-American arti...
07/23/2026

This week’s RTLW Artist Feature turns the spotlight on F***y Garcia

F***y is a first-generation Salvadoran-American artist, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. She joined the U.S Army in 2010 and left as a conscientious objector in 2013. F***y’s work encompasses various media, including photography, printmaking, and cyanotypes. Through her art, she explores themes of dreams, memories, and identity. Outside her own practice, F***y has also given back to her community, leading art workshops for combat veterans, civilian adults, and teens.

We can’t wait for you to see her work at the triennial.

© F***y Garcia. Images courtesy of the artist.

Gulf War veteran and artist Ehren Tool has started his residency at Elmhurst Art Museum! Look at all the cups he's been ...
07/20/2026

Gulf War veteran and artist Ehren Tool has started his residency at Elmhurst Art Museum! Look at all the cups he's been throwing for Resisting the Long War: A Revolution of Values exhibition!

Tickets to his workshop are officially sold out, but you can still come visit him in the Hostetler Gallery during the museum's normal opening hours, through July 30th.

📸 Photo courtesy Elmhurst Art Museum

07/17/2026

Introducing RTLW Fellow Feature — a new series spotlighting recipients of the Resisting the Long War Veteran Art Fellowship. First up: Chris Sparks (), our 2026 Veteran Art Fellow.

Chris is a Louisiana-based writer, filmmaker, and performance artist whose work examines the cultural mythology surrounding military service, identity, and reintegration. He is the creator of Thank Me For My Service: A Veteran's Cry For Help, a multi-format project spanning experimental documentary, memoir, and stage performance.

This reel features a glimpse into Chris’s film, followed by his reflections on receiving this fellowship.

Join us in congratulating Chris! We can't wait to support this work.

© Chris Sparks. Video courtesy of the artist.

For this week's RTLW artist feature, we're spotlighting someone whose work spans identity, heritage, and history. Meet A...
07/08/2026

For this week's RTLW artist feature, we're spotlighting someone whose work spans identity, heritage, and history.

Meet Amanda Raquel Dorval , a Nuyorican-Dominican artist, and anti-war veteran originally from Queens, NYC, who served seven years in the US Air Force as an Arabic linguist. Through photography, painting, costume-making, embroidery, beadwork, and craft, Amanda interrogates her Nuyorican-Dominican identity and heritage, often exploring the legacy of Islam on Puerto Rican, Nuyorican, and Taíno visual culture. She also draws on her military background to reinterpret the aesthetics of violence through ideas of nonviolence, imagining an alternative future for Borikén/Puerto Rico centered on Indigenous and Black feminisms.

Check out her page for more works!

© Amanda Raquel Dorval. Images courtesy of the artist.

Resisting the Long War Veteran Art Triennial and summit is coming — and we're kicking things off by introducing some of ...
07/01/2026

Resisting the Long War Veteran Art Triennial and summit is coming — and we're kicking things off by introducing some of the artists you'll want to know.

First up: Charlie Reynolds . Charlie is a q***r and disabled artist who uses fiber arts and installation to grapple with his time served in the Navy during Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Recipient of the 2024 Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities, Charlie is interested in the theory of q***r failure and the dissection of military culture through the examination of military artifacts.

You may already know Charlie from the Creative Rebellion Virtual Seminar Series, which he hosted earlier this year. Look out for his work at the triennial!

© Charlie Reynolds. Images courtesy of the artist.

Our old friend, Gulf War veteran and artist Ehren Tool, is making hundreds of cups at the Elmhurst Art Museum for the up...
06/25/2026

Our old friend, Gulf War veteran and artist Ehren Tool, is making hundreds of cups at the Elmhurst Art Museum for the upcoming exhibition, Resisting the Long War: A Revolution of Values. Visitors can meet Ehren while he works during the museum's normal open hours.

Ehren received his MFA from UC Berkeley in 2005 and has made and given away more than 27,000 ceramic cups. His work is heavily influenced by his time in the Marine Corps and the ways that military and civilian cultures collude and collide.

Scan the QR code or visit linktr.ee/veteran_art_movement to sign up for "Hand to Hand," a special one-day workshop with Ehren on July 22!

Image courtesy of Elmhurst Art Museum



We are honored to introduce the 2026 Veteran Art Fellowship cohort!Please join us in welcoming: ✦ Angela Waller ✦ Chris ...
06/17/2026

We are honored to introduce the 2026 Veteran Art Fellowship cohort!

Please join us in welcoming:
✦ Angela Waller
✦ Chris Sparks
✦ Jeremy Berggren
✦ Jose deVera
✦ Jules Vaquera
✦ Rocio Villanueva
✦ Stephen Funk

These seven fellows will play an active role in the upcoming Resisting the Long War - the third Veteran Art Triennial and Summit — bringing their powerful voices, perspectives, and creative visions to the forefront. Look out for their individual features in the following weeks!

*Save the dates: Veteran Art Summit November 5 - 8, 2026

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150 S Cottage Hill Ave
Elmhurst, IL
60126

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