artist Archives - The Arts Council of Johnson County

May 6, 2021 In Artists, Veteran Art, Visual Arts

Lost in the Lines: Bryan Moore on Art and Healing

Bryan Moore said the first time he showed his psychotherapist his art, he was told to go to art therapy. Moore had served in the military’s special operations for 23 years, with seven combat tours. He said that since then, he’s experienced PTSD, depression, and suicidality. Art, he said, helps him cope. He uses graphite on vellum—a better, stronger alternative to paper that won’t tear under his sharp, precise pencil—to create highly detailed pieces, generally from photographs. Many of those pieces depict scenes from his combat experience. Moore’s work won the 2015 Veteran Creative Arts Festival, a competition he entered at the

April 1, 2021 In Artists, Veteran Art, Visual Arts

Organized Chaos: An Interview with Kevin Sytsma

Kevin Sytsma describes his artistic process as “organized chaos.” Sytsma grew up in Iowa and spent seven years in the military, serving in both Afghanistan and Iraq. After coming home and transitioning out of the military, he said a friend invited him to a paint night event. He said he’d never done much with art until attending that class, about a year and a half ago—and that was the start of a whole new world for him. “I just kind of got hooked,” he said. “I fell in headfirst and went crazy.” Since then, Sytsma has continued making art, and has gotten involved

March 4, 2021 In Artists, Veteran Art, Visual Arts

Always a Story: An Interview with Kyle VanLanduyt

Kyle VanLanduyt said he’s excited to be showing his work alongside other veterans in next year’s Veterans Art Show. “It was an honor to serve my country…and it’s an honor to be with any veteran or anyone who serves their country,” he said. VanLanduyt served four years as an Air Force firefighter sergeant, which took him to another of different bases—from Texas to Indiana to Guam to working on the Space Shuttle Recovery Team. While in the military, he started DJing part time, which was his first step into the arts he works in now. After the military, he spent over twenty

March 1, 2021 In Advocacy

Just As I Am: Exploring Life with Down Syndrome

Amy Allison, Vice President of Education and Advocacy for the Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City, said she often starts a conversation about her work by asking people to identify a person they know who lives with Down syndrome. Many, she said, can’t. Their understanding of Down syndrome instead comes from, perhaps, seeing someone at the grocery store or seeing a video on social media. These types of isolated encounters fail to expose people to the full complexity of Down syndrome and the people who live with it—and Allison said the Just As I Am Gallery, which will be

February 2, 2021 In Artists, Veteran Art, Visual Arts

Lifelong Artist: An Interview with Paul Kavanaugh

Paul Kavanaugh said art has always been an important part of his life. “I’ve been doing artwork my whole life. It kind of runs in the family,” he said. Kavanaugh served in the Army after high school, and he said he took his art with him, working on several murals during training. Art became a way for him to get to know people as well, and just cope with the stress of training and military life. “Art was definitely something that helped me get through that,” he said. After leaving the military, he attended art classes at Johnson County Community College, an experience which

a photograph of beach grass against a background of sand, water, and sky

January 7, 2021 In Artists, Veteran Art, Visual Arts

Ekphrasis and Photography: An Interview With Michelle Pond

Michelle Pond is a photographer and poet whose work will be part of the Veterans Art Show next year. Pond served in the Marines from 1971 to 1973 as a Keypunch Operator, a job which she said technological advances since then have made obsolete. She said she had joined the military to finance her education and ended up liking the job, which was one of many that was opening up for women in the military at the time (although women were still not allowed in combat roles). Pond used her military work to finance a degree in journalism, but she said

A charcoal drawing of a man with an open mouth as if he is yelling

December 3, 2020 In Artists, Veteran Art, Visual Arts

An Interview With Seth Strand

Seth Strand grew up with a pencil in his hand. He’s from small town Iowa, and he said all he ever cared about growing up was art. “I’ve been drawing since I can remember,” he said, noting that his high school counselor even created an art class for him at the end of high school, because he’d taken all other available options. It wasn’t art school after graduation for Strand, however. Instead, he joined the military as an infantryman, went to basic training in January 2012, and deployed to Afghanistan in December. A few months later, on May 4, 2013, Strand said

November 5, 2020 In Artists, Mental Health, Visual Arts

Arts & Mental Health: An Interview With Jessie Burnes

Jessie Burnes is a Chicago based painter. Raised in Kansas City, Jessie received her BFA in Painting at Kansas State University in 2018. She then went to complete her Post-Baccalaureate certificate in Painting at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2019. Jessie is currently an MFA candidate in Painting at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Before Jessie’s time in graduate school at SAIC, she participated in the undergraduate painting program at Kansas State University. Her work in her undergraduate studies focused on abstracted floral imagery with a subtext on trauma and abuse. Now, in her

October 1, 2020 In Artists, Veteran Art, Visual Arts

Seeing Differently: An Interview With Heather Inich

“I’ve pretty much had a camera in my hand for as long as I can remember,” said Heather Inich, one of the artists for the Veterans’ Art Exhibit. Inich is an Air Force veteran, and she said she started volunteering for the Special Olympics during the military—something she continued to do after leaving the military. Eventually, she became a photographer for the Special Olympics in Kentucky, and her journey with photography continued from there. For her, photography is a way to relax and decompress. Her work focuses mostly on nature, and she said her camera lens lets her see things different—and encourage

Stained glass in a frame laying on a workbench

September 3, 2020 In Artists, Visual Arts

Art & Peace: An Interview With Tony Nichols

Tony Nichols, whose work will be part of the Veterans Art Exhibit next year, said that art has been both his work and his coping strategy—and that he feels it’s important for every veteran to find something that helps them cope. “When you get out, you’ve given enough, you’ve served enough,” he said. “Do what brings you joy.” Nichols retired in 2013 after 23 years in the Army, and has been working in art for the past 16 years. He said he joined the Army after college. “I wanted to have a little bit more adventure than I was having, so I enlisted