An artistic thank-you to veterans

Written by Jeannette Ross
Thursday, 05 November 2009 11:45

Mother, Teacher, Boy Scout, Banker, Husband, Police Officer, Writer, Rancher, Firefighter, Volunteer, Friend, Musician, Neighbor, Hero.

Like a drumbeat, words describing the fallen march across a Wall of Honor commemorating Veterans Day at the Ridgefield Library, 472 Main Street. The wall, conceived and executed by artist Noelle Carr, will be on display Nov. 3-29 as part of a larger exhibit called A Veterans Memorial Garden. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, Nov. 7, from 3 to 5, in the Dayton Program Room to which all area veterans and their families are invited, along with the general community.

Ms. Carr, who lives in Ridgefield, conceived of this exhibition almost two years ago. The daughter of a heroic World War II veteran, she wanted to honor American troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and those fighting the global war on terror.

While researching ideas for the project, she came across the practice of displaying of blue stars and gold stars by military families dating from World War I. Families who had someone serving in the military displayed a blue star at home. Those who lost a loved one covered their blue star with gold.

“I experimented with various kinds of stars,” Ms. Carr said, “and came to white stars on a blue field. They are like the states, all different but all American.” She also liked the connection to the blue field of stars on the American flag. The difference is that Ms. Carr’s Wall of Honor contains 30 stars, a concession to the size of the gallery space at the library.

“When I began in the summer of ‘08, each star represented 150 soldiers who had died,” she said. “Now it is up to almost 175 soldiers per star.” To personalize the stars, Ms. Carr had words that symbolize the fallen soldiers printed on canvas military tape, just as their names would be printed on their uniforms, and these words are attached to each star. Hence, the stars remind us of the place each person held in their families, communities, and workplaces.

“I researched some of the people who died,” Ms. Carr said. “There were some things that jumped out at me.” One was a young man from the Bronx who was a banker at Chase, just as Ms. Carr’s husband is. Others were described as leaders, patriots, volunteers. “Many were active in their communities,” she said. One serviceman wrote letters to his son and wife with instructions “to be published as a book of life lessons if I am gone.”

Symbolic flowers

The Wall of Honor is just one part of the exhibit, the other being a pictorial garden of flowers. Flowers have always been used in symbolic ways throughout history, and in her research Ms. Carr discovered the meanings and characteristics attributed to certain flowers. The iris, she discovered, stands for valor; the nasturtium for patriotism and the peony for honor. The gladiolus is the flower of remembrance and purity is symbolized by the lily. The poppy, of course, is the flower used by veterans.

“As an artist I love painting flowers,” Ms. Carr said. “I love the bright colors. I love the bold colors. I love to pull the paint so you can see the brush strokes. Flowers are perfect for the way I paint.” The Veterans Memorial Garden will include 10 to 12 large oil on canvas flower paintings. The flowers and stars will be enhanced by quotations from a variety of sources including an address by George Washington and the Gettysburg Address, as well as the poem “In Flanders Fields” and the song “Freedom Isn’t Free.”

Ms. Carr wanted to stress her exhibit is not political. “Soldiers go where the Commander-in-Chief sends them,” she said. “Through my parents I learned gratitude for veterans and appreciation for the freedoms we have,” she said. Recalling her father, she told how he was affected his whole life by the injuries he suffered in Anzio, Italy. He was a paratrooper and also charged with deactivating land mines. “What he experienced affected him from that moment on,” she said. “You don’t go through that and come back unchanged.

“What I want to do is raise awareness and show support.” To that end, Ms. Carr has joined with the organization A Million Thanks, which sends letters of gratitude to American soldiers. Visitors to the exhibit will have the opportunity to write their own letters and deposit them in a receptacle for delivery at the end of the show.

In addition, Ms. Carr will support the Wounded Warriors Project, an organization that helps returning soldiers and their families with a variety of support services. All the paintings at the show — the flowers and the stars — will be for sale and Ms. Carr will donate her portion of any sales to the organization. (The remaining portion of any sales will benefit the Ridgefield Library.)

Ms. Carr has lived in Ridgefield five years with her husband, Richard, and two children, Evelyn and Vincent. She studied art and art history at SUNY Purchase, and has worked at the Museum of Modern Art and several New York City galleries. She has shown her work in a number of group shows over the years, including at the Westport Arts Center and galleries in Greenwich and Norwalk. She has also shown extensively in Ridgefield.

For information on A Veterans Memorial Garden and exhibit hours, call the library at 203-438-2282. You may also visit Ms. Carr’s Web site at noellecarr.com, where you will find links to A Million Thanks and the Wounded Warrior Project.