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UW-Fond du Lac to host national touring war memorial/exhibit

Click here to view the photos from the opening receptionon Sept. 15, 2011.

Fond du Lac, Wis.—The University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac will host the nationally touring exhibit “Always Lost: A Meditation on War,” Sept. 16-Oct. 28 in the University Center Commons, 400 University Dr.

The exhibit can be viewed Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. and Friday, 8 a.m.-noon. There is no admission charge.

An opening reception for the public will be held 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15 in the Commons. The evening will include a short program at 5:30 p.m. and light refreshments.

“Always Lost” is a unique collection of photographs, poems and prose. It began in 2008 at Western Nevada College where professors Don Carlson and Marilee Swirczek worked with students to create an exhibit that began as a consideration of the effects of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and evolved into a powerful meditation on the effects of war on the individual.

The name for the exhibit was suggested by retired Marine Corps Major and English instructor at Western Nevada College Kevin Burns from an observation by writer Gertrude Stein: “War is never fatal, but always lost. Always lost.”

Central to the traveling exhibit is a collage of photos and the names of United States military war casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001.

Also included are the 2004 Pulitzer Prize-winning Iraq war combat photos of David Leeson and Cheryl Meyer courtesy of “The Dallas Morning News” and literary work of Swirczek’s creative writing classes, veterans and their families.

Locally, the exhibit has been expanded to include a “Never Forgotten” memorial to those soldiers from the Fond du Lac area who died serving our country from the Civil War period to the present day.

UW-Fond du Lac Dean and CEO John N. Short noted that the Fond du Lac aspects of the exhibit have been designed, in part, to engage the Fond du Lac community in both a remembrance and celebration of the sacrifice, dedication and contributions that local veterans and their families demonstrate in our community every day.

“Hosting the exhibit ‘Always Lost’ will permit us to honor those who sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq and also to celebrate the accomplishments of living veterans from Afghanistan, Iraq and all of our other armed conflicts,” said Short.

UW-Fond du Lac Art Professor John Scotello is curating the exhibit and working with UW-Fond du Lac student veterans and art students, local veteran organizations and the Fond du Lac Historical Society to localize the exhibit.

He has been converting some historical photos provided by the veteran organizations into digital images and several of these will be on display as eight foot tall prints.

Scotello explains that the “Always Lost” traveling exhibit is personal and introspective while the “Never Forgotten” memorial shows that the impact of war is shared with the community, especially family.

“The images in the exhibit are challenging and difficult to look at and will probably stir a lot of emotions,” said Scotello. “This project is bringing together the veterans from the different wars in this experience and I hope that through the pairing of these two exhibits at UW-Fond du Lac, everyone will realize that personal experiences like these are shared.”

“Always Lost” is funded, in part, by the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. It is being brought to UW-Fond du Lac by the Student Life and Interest Committee (SLIC) and the Engaging Students in the First Year (ESFY) committee.

This exhibit is the beginning of a year-long theme “War at the Personal Level” at UW-Fond du Lac. A few of the events planned for the upcoming academic year include the theater department’s presentation of the play “My Soldiers” by Richard Kalinoski Nov. 2-6, a panel discussion on the “Always Lost” exhibit at noon on Oct. 20 and the common read of the book “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien.

For more information call (920) 929-1100.

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