Memorial Day Portraits

Although I was traveling on Memorial Day, I wanted to mention one moving exhibit that I still think of every time this year. Two years ago our family ventured to Arlington Cemetery to view the art exhibit, The Faces of the Fallen, portraits of fallen soldiers from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, during October 10, 2001 – November 11, 2004. Over 200 artists were involved and paid tribute by painting, drawing and or sculpting their portraits on 6″ x 8″ canvases and other media. They were all displayed one next to the other in endless rows, ordered by timing of their death. It served as a memorial for two years and at the closing, the next-of-kin received the artwork. In a similar way as the the Vietnam War Memorial has become a hallowed shrine, relatives and friends of the departed left tokens of their individual remembrances. However individual this was, it became a collective and universal recognition. Although the exhibit closed in June 2007, it remains very fresh in my memory as a wonderful tribute to our American heroes through art.