Veteran Artist Program

Born in Robinsdale, Minnesota , Jessie recently retired from the U.S. Army, and has come back to his lifelong passion of art.  He is a painter, sculptor, poet, and a multiple award-winning producer/director/writer (winning both a Telly at the national level and two Addy's, locally).  In the last year he has exhibited several pieces of art at the Creamery Gallery, in Springfield MO.  With little formal art education Jessie is a primarily a self taught artist.  He is very eclectic in his art techniques, ranging from landscapes, impressionism, surrealism, to realism, and his newest technique that he continues to refine...Chromatic Pop.  Able to work in wood, clay, metal, oil, acrylic, water color, and print making; Jessie is a versatile artist.

My art has been a journey of self-discovery and self-expression as a man who celebrates the African American experience and our achievements in sports and music history. It is the process by which I choose to explore my past and future.

I was a sergeant in the South Carolina Army National Guard for 6 years. I did a little bit of everything but towards the last 2 years, I worked in the R3SP Program (suicide prevention). I currently work for SCDNR. I love fishing, the outdoors, and my pets.

Mike Caimona is a Navy veteran and the Founder of Warrior Music Foundation, which provides free music lessons and music therapy to active duty, veterans and families. He is also the founder of 1710 Percussion, a custom drum manufacturing company.

Retired after 24 years military, Bernardine "Bernie" Donato started painting 5 years ago and now teaches workshops to others in her community. "Painting has given me an outlet for my demons and taken me to calmer places. It is my space for solitude where I can tune out, unwind, and create." Aside from the 24 years in the military with combat area deployments, Bernie spent a total of 40 yrs as an RN with 24 of those years in ER/Trauma, and 11 years as a reserve LAPD Police officer in South Central Los Angeles. Bernie is very active in the VAP Community, and also very active in the Team RWB community.

David has produced 27 films, earning more than $1 billion at the box office and numerous awards. He is recognized as an innovator where technology and media intersect. He is the son of a WWII veteran who gave him a deep appreciation for the military.

Susan J. Farese, MSN, RN, a native of New Jersey, is the owner/ president of  SJF Communications, San Diego, CA. SJF Communications, originally established in 2002 in San Jose, CA, provides communications services including Marketing, Public Relations, Publicity, Social Media, Writing and Public Speaking, Photography, Coaching and Legal Nurse Consulting services. Ms. Farese has diversified experience in health care/communications, including clinical nursing practice, management, education/training, research and consulting. Previously, after active duty as a military nurse (’78 -‘90), Susan was owner/president of Prosper Development Systems, a health care consulting/medical-legal consulting firm from 1990-1998. Susan has presented numerous continuing education classes, seminars, and keynotes. She is the author of the book “Poetic Expressions in Nursing…Sharing the Caring” (1993, Vista Publishing, Inc.) and has written poetry and articles on a variety of topics.

Warwick Young is a multi award winning writer and director. Warwick’s has also worked as an actor in theatre, film and television. Warwick is an officer in the Australian Army and saw active service in Iraq in 2006. For those wondering, 10 degrees Celsius is 50 degrees Fahrenheit. :-)

Robin Ludwig (author, poet, and closet Shakespearean) has taught literature and writing in TX and the UK. She has served in the USAF since 2002. She’s passionate about DeCruit, a veteran nonprofit that incorporates theatre, Shakespeare, and science. You will hear Robin talk a lot about DeCruit and Stephan Wolfert. If, after you listen to this episode, you want to hear more about Stephan's story, just click here to go to his episode of the podcast. You can follow Robin on Twitter. Her handle is @robin_renae, and as she mentions in the interview you can also connect with her in the VAP Community

Michael Brown is a former Marine Corps Ground Intelligence Officer. Inspired by the importance of storytelling to culture, he left the military in 2012 to become a filmmaker. In 2015 he co-founded Tomahawk Pictures. Caleb Wells is an actor and producer with Tomahawk Pictures, and a USMC veteran.  A team of warm-hearted creatives with cold-blooded efficiency, Tomahawk Pictures is a New York City based production company that leverages our military experience into methodically executed media production. Proudly a Veteran Owned and Operated Small Business. Operational excellence is our baseline.

Dario DiBattista is the editor of the anthology Retire the Colors: Veterans & Civilians on Iraq & Afghanistan. His work has appeared in the Washingtonian, the New York Times, theWashington Post, the Guardian, Connecticut Review, [Pank], Mic.com, and many other publications.  Additionally, he's been profiled in the New York Times and has been a commentator onNPR, SiriusXM, and for the BBC. He served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 2001 to 2007, later becoming a distinguished graduate of the Johns Hopkins University M.A. in Writing Program. He is currently working on a co-written screenplay about a Marine's return home from war. 

Miranda Summers Lowe has been in the Army National Guard since 2002. She is a Modern Military History Curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Miranda has had deployments to Iraq and Djibouti. She served on the team that wrote Army's first official history of Afghanistan. Miranda is also a dog lover. veteranartistprogram.org/031

Kena Dillon is an artist and Navy veteran from Colorado, with her BFA from the University of Cincinnati's DAAP program. Her work consists of paintings done in oil or acrylic, as well as woodworking and welding to create her abstract sculptures.  

Mark Johnston is the Chairman and Director of the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum. Mark graduated from RMC Duntroon into the Australian Intelligence Corps. He served in Bougainville before moving to Melbourne on discharge. Mark is a management consultant working in Defense and utilities. Mark has had a longstanding and personal interest in the Arts and military history. Full show notes at veteranartistprogram.org/029

TERESA FAZIO was a Marine Corps communications officer from 2002-2006, deploying once to Iraq. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Task and Purpose, The War Horse, Consequence, and Penthouse, and several anthologies. For more info: veteranartistprogram.org/028

Mike Dowling is an author, producer, & veteran advocate. Mike worked with production teams on VA campaigns, produced digital content at We Are The Mighty, and has worked on camera in various projects (commercials, films). Mike is also the co-founder of Veterans in Film and TV, (now VME) & LA Vets Orientation. Learn more about the Veteran Artist Program at veteranartistprogram.org

Air Force veteran Stacy L. Pearsall is an independent photographer, author, educator, military consultant, public speaker and founder of the Veterans Portrait Project. BR McDonald and Stacy Pearsall discuss both transitioning into and out of the military, life as a combat photographer in the Air Force, and what Stacy is doing now to honor and thank her fellow veterans. Be sure to check out the show notes at veteranartistprogram.org/026, and while you are on the website, learn how to join the VAP Community.

In this episode I talk about creating the VAP Family of Podcasts under the Veteran Artist Program non-profit. I also talk about the new VAP Community that we just rolled out this week to allow veteran artists to interact with and help other veteran artists. A rising tide lifts all boats. This community will strengthen veteran artists as a whole. To get your invite into the community, https://veteranartistprogram.leadpages.co/communityinvite/ or text the word VETERAN to 44222.

Roy Scranton is the author of Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization (City Lights, 2015), and co-editor of Fire and Forget: Short Stories from the Long War (Da Capo, 2013). His short stories, poetry, essays, and journalism have appeared in Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Epiphany, Prairie Schooner, Boston Review, and elsewhere. He grew up in Oregon, dropped out of college, and spent several years wandering the American West before enlisting in the US Army. He served from 2002 to 2006, including fourteen months in Iraq. After leaving the Army he earned a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree at the New School for Social Research, and is now completing a Ph.D. in English at Princeton. His novel War Porn is forthcoming from Soho Press in Fall 2016.

Marco Reininger (Producer) is a scholar of violence and strategies for conflict resolution, with years of experience engaging with war as a U.S. soldier and socio-cultural researcher. In Afghanistan, Marco has observed tribal dynamics, interrogated complicated data sets, and developed intricate solution models for growing peace at the grassroots level. At Columbia University, Marco studied African civil wars, the reasons people take to arms against one another, and how peace occurs. As an artist, Marco has written screenplays, performed on stage, and investigated the lessons ancient drama can teach us about the struggles we face today. Marco will draw on his experiences bridging war, social sciences, and the arts, to help shape a film that educates and explains, while never losing sight of the human story at the heart of the conflict.