-Week 17-

After 4 months at the National Veterans Art Museum my internship has come to an end. My experience at the NVAM has been exceptionally enriching both educationally and personally. Since I had never held an internship position in a museum art gallery, I had no idea of what to expect from the time that I had chosen to dedicate to the NVAM. I was initially drawn to the NVAM because of the subject matter that the artwork represented and the historical events that ultimately served as the influence for the pieces that were created. The exposure to the first hand accounts of war and its effects serves as a very humbling experience and one that has provided information that I would not have had access to prior to my internship. Due to this, I decided to share the feelings and experiences of those individual's whose stories I felt were compelling and deserved to be heard. It is very simple to turn a blind eye to issues that do not directly affect an individual's day-to-day activities, but the sacrifices that soldiers have made for mere strangers are qualities that should be respected, regardless of politics or personal opinion. Unlike abstract artwork that, although interesting in its own right, is created for aesthetic purposes, the veteran artwork is a testament of the inability to disassociate the basic principles and characteristics of human existence from acts of war.

As a someone who has a significant interest in history, I gained a new understanding of the facets of war and the experiences and personal struggles of the individuals that played an integral role in the events. Despite my knowledge of war from previous courses or books that I have read, I gained a perspective of war and its veterans that cannot be accurately represented unless spoken by those that have been asked to eliminate emotion in order to engage in violence.

I feel extremely privileged to have had the opportunity of working with such an extraordinary group of individuals. The dedication of the staff is remarkable and without it I do not believe that the NVAM would have the impact that it has. It is very difficult to be a part of the NVAM without developing genuine concern for the issues of war and the individuals that are, more often than not, incorrectly represented. My experience at the National Veterans Art Museum was transformative and I wish everyone involved the best of luck.

Thank you for following my blog and I sincerely hope that the information that I provided was able to illustrate my experiences and the incredible information that I encountered.