More Than 500 People Attend USD Art Show Honoring Veterans

“Local people from Vermillion, Centerville, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Tabor and many towns in between came to the show,” said Williams. “I talked to a lot of them, and they praised the students’ artwork and many were touched by the powerful ideas behind each piece of art.”

Williams staged the art show as part of her class, which teaches future elementary school teachers how to teach social studies.

“In my syllabus, I have two particular lessons: ‘How to Teach About Wars From A Human Perspective’ and ‘How to Integrate Art with Social Studies.’ Then, I designed this art event, which combined these two lessons, aiming to show my future teachers that this was something they could do with their students and that social studies is not a boring subject full of memorizations,” Williams said. “Instead, social studies education is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good.”

Thursday’s show included 40 pieces of artwork created by the 38 students in Williams’s class alongside USD Art Department Chair Cory Knedler and Williams. The students embraced the project and created some amazing works of art, she said.

“I have never seen students so engaged in a project like this one,” she said. “Each one of them had a personal story to tell, and their feelings behind their art were touching and powerful. Before the art exhibition, we all presented our own artwork in class. During the presentation, one student became emotional when she told us the meaning behind her artwork, which directly related to her father, who has been serving in the U.S. Air Force for 30 years. She made a giant poppy out of tissue paper, which represented, in her own words, ‘how big of a sacrifice our service men and women make for our country.’”

Williams includes a veteran-related project in her classes each semester. Because the art show was received so well, Williams says she will definitely do it again.

“Seeing the meaning of this project to each one of my students and to the local community, I will definitely do it again in the near future,” she said. “I have been collaborating with the Vermillion VFW Post 3061 since the fall of 2015. Andy Howe, the quartermaster of the post, has been an inspiration. He has been involved in all my veteran-related activities and projects. Each semester, we do a project for educational purposes. I want to use these different projects to raise awareness of veterans' sacrifices among my students and in the local community. We did "In Gratitude for Your Service" writing contest and "Clay County's Fallen" research contest in the past, and the VFW post 3061 generously sponsored these events.”

This year’s project, the “In Flander’s Field” art show, raised more than $1,000 through the silent auction that accompanied the show. That money was donated to Post 3061 to aid in its missions, which include supporting disabled veterans and furthering education about veterans.

“We want to show our appreciation to the Post and all veterans,” said Williams. “Veterans made huge sacrifices to defend the freedom of this country, but their sacrifices are oftentimes ignored or not recognized by the general public.”

Williams credits Education Chair Nick Shudak, USD Dean Donald Easton Brooks, Professor Knedler, her enthusiastic students, and the USD Student Veteran Resource Center for making the art show possible. In addition, Post 3061 provided 1,000 "buddy poppies" to go along with the students’ artwork.