(Pictured above: Deer at the Crossroads, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, by Wayne Gortmaker)

INTERNAL NARRATIVES

PROJECTS BY VETERANS

NOVEMBER 11 – DECEMBER 30, 2017

Opening Reception: Veterans Day, Saturday, November 11, 2017, 5 – 8pm

Location: COLORADO PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS CENTER (1070 BANNOCK ST, DENVER, CO 80204)

Named a “Best Bet” by 5280 Magazine

Internal Narratives: Projects by Veterans features a compelling collection of fine art photography created by 10 Denver-area artists who have served in the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, or Army Reserve. This unique exhibition is the culmination of CPAC’s Veterans Workshop Series, a four-month program of advanced photographic courses led by master-level instructor Frank Varney, with additional mentoring guidance provided by CPAC Director Samantha Johnston. Each project is intensely personal, reflecting each artist’s inspirations, life experiences, creativity, and point of view.

EXHIBITING ARTISTS

Tylor Belshe, Skip Bethurum, Corina Cavaness, Cath Colwell, Wayne Gortmaker, Amber Hotzfeld, Marla Keown, Jeff Mallo, Joe McDonald, & Darren Schultz.

INSTRUCTORS

Frank Varney, Teri Fullerton, Samantha Johnston, & Paul Weinrauch

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Launched in August 2017, the Veterans Workshop Series gives local Veterans with a passion for photography access to advanced photographic education at no cost to them. Our aim is to provide participants with a high-quality experience, new skills and expertise they can leverage long after the program ends, and create an opportunity to engage Denver’s broader arts community through a public exhibition at CPAC’s downtown gallery.

Over four months, participants learned to refine technical skills, hone ideas into a body of work, create a portfolio, write about their work, and present their projects to the community.

Each artist was asked to consider a personal project and to explore a narrative that goes beyond a single frame. The exhibition represents a broad range of subject matter because each project is a deeply personal expression of the individual. For example, Jeff Mallo pushed outside of his comfort zone of underwater photography to photographing Veterans holding self portraits from their time in military service before being medically retired. Tylor Belshe explored the use of complex studio lighting setups with colored gels to create moody, unexpected portraits. Amber immersed herself in Denver’s drag queen community, giving us an inside look at the meticulous preparations that take place behind closed doors.

As a mentor to the artists throughout this rigorous program, I have seen tremendous growth and development of each artist’s project. It has been my honor to work closely with them, hear their stories, and try to see the world though their eyes.

– Samantha Johnston, Executive Director, Colorado Photographic Arts Center

SPECIAL THANKS

The 2017 Veterans Workshop Series was created in partnership with The Art of War Project and Task Force ISO. Funding for this program was generously provided by the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, Denver Arts and Venues’ Imagine 2020 fund, and individual donors, with in-kind support from Reed Art & Imaging and Blurb.