The initial concept for Yellow Ribbon took root, in partnership with Kent County Veterans Services, as we set our sights on ArtPrize 2020. Over the next few months, this community-based work involved ten veteran art workshops across West Michigan. We initially planned six workshops, but the interest level kept growing; veterans and their families felt excited to be part of this ArtPrize project.
In early 2020, the first workshop, sponsored by 92 for 22, swelled to capacity with eager vets and their loved ones. At the American Legion in Caledonia, Michigan, Vietnam veterans, along with their grandchildren, produced some beautiful art pieces. Female veterans gathered in Greenville, and aging vets from Grand Rapids Veterans Home also participated. The following month, more than 70 enthusiastic vets, along with their spouses, parents, siblings, and children, crammed into the historic American Legion in Marne to create art.
As the pandemic emerged, the workshops came to a halt. But later in the summer, when the spread of COVID-19 slowed, we met outside with Veterans Upward Bound and WINC (For All Women Veterans), for the next phase of the work. In keeping with social distance protocols, each veteran or family group worked at a separate table and helped paint the background of the large wooden panels. Meanwhile, at Breton Woods of Holland Home, the elderly veterans received personal art kits to create their art pieces within the safety of their own rooms.
Although we faced a pandemic, national political unrest, and the cancellation of ArtPrize 2020, we continued to find alternative ways to safely engage veterans. Everyone appreciated the camaraderie and the chance to be part of something bigger than themselves. As ArtPrize regrouped for 2021, the Yellow Ribbon project proved to be an important opportunity to help galvanize the West Michigan veteran community—especially during such extraordinary times.
We would like to express hearty appreciation to the following organizations for their collaborative involvement in the Yellow Ribbon art workshops:
- 92 for 22
- Kent County Veterans Treatment Court
- Blue Star Mothers of South Kent and American Legion 305
- Ottawa-North Kent Blue Star Mothers and Marne American Legion
- Blue Star Mothers of Ionia, Kent and Montcalm and Ray I. Booth American Legion
- Veterans Upward Bound Program
- Grand Rapids Home for Veterans
- Breton Woods of Holland Home
- WINC: For All Women Veterans
- Finish the Mission
