Friday, November 27, 2015

Iowa Non-Profits to Partner with Combat Paper Project!

Fine art print by Combat Paper Project co-founder Drew Cameron
In a media release coinciding with the National Day of Listening Nov. 27, 2015, Central Iowa non-profits Paws & Effect and Iowa Remembers, Inc. announced plans for a series of 2016 arts events in the Des Moines, Iowa, metro area, in partnership with the Combat Paper Project, San Francisco.

The effort will incorporate paper-making and visual arts workshops, storytelling, and exhibits focused on bridging the cultural gaps among civilians, and those who serve in uniform. The Woods production company will capture the events on video. Dates and times are to be determined, with workshops occurring in spring 2016, and arts exhibits in fall 2016.

Paws & Effect, a Des Moines, Iowa-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that raises, trains, and places service dogs with military veterans and others, will supply some of the workshop participants. These include military veterans and service members, as well as civilian rescue workers who deployed to New York City following the terrorist attacks there Sept., 11, 2001.

Several families who have lost loved ones in combat-related circumstances will also participate in the workshops. Iowa Remembers, Inc. is a Bondurant, Iowa-based 501(c)(3) non-profit that conducts events that commemorate those Iowans who have died in service to their country since 2001, and that support their surviving family members. The group is best-known for its annual 5k Iowa Remembrance Run fund-raiser, which draws fields of more than 1,000 runners and walkers to West Des Moines' Raccoon River Park.

"Together, these stories express a breadth of experience about Iowans, and the ways they have been affected by war," says Paws & Effect Executive Director Nicole Shumate. "This project has already been harrowing, heartbreaking, gratifying, revealing and very, very human."

Says Iowa Remembers, Inc. Executive Director Heather Johnson, "We look forward to honoring these stories with honesty and integrity, and for continuing to find new and compelling ways to remember and celebrate our fellow Iowans."

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