2600 photographs and slides from like-new condition to faded and torn, were submitted by veterans throughout the Triad area of North Carolina. Selected images were scanned into our computers and students, teens and volunteers restored color, repaired damage and prepared the images for digital printing and a related Power Point show. The vets were interviewed in person and a journal was kept of those meetings and their stories. Some of the meetings were emotional as the men viewed their photos and discussed the surrounding events after a 30-35 year absence. 

This exhibit began with start-up funds of only $70.00 and generous donations from many local businesses and individuals. It continues with a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council. (The entire Vietnam exhibit may be viewed on the North Carolina Humanities Council website at www.nchumanities.org)  But the biggest contribution of all was from the veterans themselves, who chanced revisiting one of the most significant periods of their lives and sharing it with others. This exhibit was created for - and by - them. 

Martin Tucker - Photography Coordinator/Curator
Sawtooth Center for Visual Art
 

The Sawtooth Center for Visual Art believes so strongly in the quality and relevance of this project that it will sponsor a traveling exhibit beginning in the fall of 2004.  This exhibit consists of 60 - 8 X 10 color and black and white enlargements framed 16 X 20 as well as quotes by each vet about their photograph.  A CD Power Point show with additional photos and quotes as well as a MIA/POW Missing Man table display is also included in this show which represents all branches of the military.  These photographs seek to document a historic period in US history with a broad cross-section of what it was like to be a serviceman in Vietnam.  The images are humorous, touching, artistic, educational and thought-provoking. 

If you are interested in hosting this exhibit, please contact Martin Tucker, Photography Coordinator/Curator at (336) 723-7395 or email at photoart@sawtooth.org.

Vietnam Veterans Photography Exhibit Update: A Thousand Words: Photographs by Vietnam Veterans continues to gain regional and national attention. The exhibit had a very successful showing in Galax, Virginia in January. Locally, part of the exhibit will be displayed at the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Administration building beginning February 18th. The exhibit will also have a four page feature story in the March issue of Our State - Down Home in North Carolina. In addition to providing funding for the traveling show, the North Carolina Humanities Council is posting the entire exhibit on their website at www.nchumanities.org.

A Thousand Words: Photographs by Vietnam Veterans has had over 1000 viewers at each of the last three exhibit sites. An attendance record was set in Galax, Virginia. This exhibit was displayed at the Air Zoo Museum in Kalamazoo, Michigan in May. The exhibit is also featured in a story in the May/June issue of Humanities magazine, the national publication of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Photography Coordinator Martin Tucker was the guest speaker at the April monthly meeting of the Military Officers Association of America and showed a slide presentation of the exhibit along with the interesting history of the project and vets involved to a full house. For more information on having the slide show at your next meeting or conference please contact Martin at (336) 210-6110.

The exhibit will be on display at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, NC June 1, 2008 through June 1, 2009. For more information about the NC Museum of History, phone 919 807-7900.  
 

All photos copyright 2004 
 

Photo: Dale Doub

            Photo:  Bill Abbey

  Photo:  Bob Karraker

                                                                             Photo: Ayman Fareed
 
 
 
 
 

      Photo: Gerald Harrison

  Photo:  Dale Doub

              Photo:  George Schober

      Photo:  Mike Callahan

                                    Photo: Gerald Harrison

Photo:  Andy West

Vietnam Veteran Exhibit Past Locations: