Art, in and of Combat

From the New York Times (July 13, 2010), an article on the US Marine Corps' art program. Carol Kino writes that the Marine Corps's combat art program "is not the only one of its kind in the United States military, but many regard it as the one most deeply committed to its artistic mission. Like those in the other services, it began after the attack on Pearl Harbor and scaled back after Vietnam. Somewhat unusually, however, it has kept at least one artist in the reserves ready to deploy."

In my first university-level class I taught, there was a student recently returned from deployment in the Middle East. He showed me some of the sketches he made while serving. They were heartfelt, smart, reflective (in every sense), and they have stuck with me ever since. Since its inception, the number of teaching artists in the Marine Corps has gone from 77 to 1. I am glad one remains, and hopeful for more.

Sgt. Jack Corillo's work is pictured above.