VETERAN EXHIBITS AWARD-WINNING ARTWORK AT 2005 NATIONAL VETERANS CREATIVE ARTS FESTIVAL

Denver, Colo. - Denise Smith, an Air Force veteran from Chillicothe, Ohio, is in Denver, Colo., this week to exhibit her award-winning artwork at the 2005 National Veterans Creative Arts Festival.

The Festival culminates a year-long fine arts talent competition in art, music, drama, dance and creative writing. The program is open to all veterans who receive care at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities. The talented veterans invited to the Festival are all first, second or third place winners, selected this year from more than 2,500 entries in nearly 150 different categories.

Smith, 49, is one of more than 130 U.S. military veterans from across the nation who were invited to the Festival for a week of workshops and rehearsals beginning on October 17, with an art exhibit and a gala variety stage show on Sunday, October 23 at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts. The music, drama, dance and creative writing winners will take part in an inspiring stage show backed by a professional orchestra. The artists will exhibit their first-place artwork in the lobby of Gates Concert Hall at the Newman Center (on the campus of the University of Denver) immediately prior to the stage show.

Smith won first place in two categories of the national art competition, in the needlework and beadwork categories. Smith's award winning pieces are "Country Roads," a miniature quilt consisting of 275 pieces of fabric ranging in sizes; and "Earth Mother," a peyote stitched beadwork bag. Her work was entered by a therapist at the VA medical facility in Chillicothe, Ohio, where he receives care.

"It is a great honor to be invited to participate in the Creative Arts Festival," said Smith. "It is also a humbling experience being with so many gifted individuals, and the atmosphere of support is always exhilarating. The workshops provide great stimulation for new avenues of creative expression and I leave the Festival motivated by new ideas. Participating in the arts allows me a reprieve from the chronic pain that I suffer. Physical movement often becomes limited and immersion in creative endeavors takes my mind off of the pain, giving me a sense of accomplishment."Smith began beadwork about 18 years ago when she was studying American Indian culture, and began quilting about five years ago. (Photographs of all winning artwork may be viewed and downloaded for publication from the art gallery page of the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival Web site: www.creativeartsfestival.org.)

The National Veterans Creative Arts Festival is presented by VA, the American Legion Auxiliary and Help Hospitalized Veterans. It is being hosted this year by the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System in Denver.

Note to Editor:
Background information is available on the Festival's Web site: www.creativeartsfestival.org.
If you want to interview Smith, contact Kim Byers, NVCAF public affairs coordinator, after October 24 at (734) 761-7824.