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K-State Today

February 28, 2020

Art professor founds and presents 'The Earl Project,' veteran art initiative

Submitted by Geraldine Craig

Art from The Earl Project

"The Earl Project" helps veterans create new works of art to tell their story, both individually and through contributions to a community cloth scroll inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry. Founder and director of the project Geraldine Craig, K-State professor of art, presented "The Earl Project" at the 12th International Conference on The Inclusive Museum, Buenos Aires, in November 2019. Craig shared the panel with researchers from Chile, England and South Korea.

The campus and Manhattan community can see a new exhibition of "The Earl Project" at the Manhattan Arts Center, which includes individual works and the community cloth scroll, created in workshops since fall 2018.

The MAC Gallery public reception is 5-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28. The exhibition is open through March 28.

All MAC Gallery exhibits are free, open to the public and fully accessible.

Future workshops at the Manhattan Art Center are Feb. 29 and March 29: 

  • A Memorial Workshop to commemorate veterans will be 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at the MAC Gallery. Drop in with photos of loved ones who served. We'll copy onto fabric and add to our community scroll — you'll take the photos home.
  • A Burn-out Art Workshop will be 1:30-4:30 p.m. March 29 at the MAC Gallery. A workshop for veterans/soldiers to express their military experience, like those works seen in the exhibition. No art experience required. You'll go home with a framed work. 

Please register at www.theearlproject.org so you'll know what to bring.

"The Earl Project" is generously funded by Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. Additional funding was provided by the Kansas State University Small Research Grant and Department of Art. Thanks to "The Earl Project" partners/collaborators: K-State Institute for the Health and Security of Military Families; Manhattan Arts Center; Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art; Mingenback Art Center, Bethany College, Lindsborg; Meadowlark Hills; and Sacred Leaf, Manhattan.

For more information, visit "The Earl Project" website.