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NEWS RELEASE
VETERAN EXHIBITS AWARD-WINNING ARTWORK AT 2007 NATIONAL VETERANS CREATIVE ARTS FESTIVAL
St. Louis , Mo. – Raymond Ayers, an Army
veteran from Fontana, Calif., is in St. Louis , Mo., this week to exhibit his award-winning artwork at the 2007 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 2,800 entries in more than 150 different categories.
Ayers, 53, is one of more than 110 U.S. military veterans from across the nation attending the Festival for a week of workshops and rehearsals beginning on October 22, with an art exhibit and a gala variety stage show taking place on Sunday, October 28 at the University of Missouri - St. Louis, Touhill Performing Arts Center. There 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 the Touhill Performing Arts Center immediately prior to the stage show.
Ayers won first place in the national art competition in the beadwork category. Ayers' piece, entitled "Memory of the Hunt," depicts a portrait of a Native American and is intricutly designed using glass beads and leather. His work was entered by a therapist at the VA medical facility in Loma Linda, Calif. where he receives care.
"I have enjoyed working with beads since I was young," said Ayers. "I had not thought about entering my beadwork into the creative arts competition until some of my friends suggested that I should."
Ayers' interest in beadwork began about 30 years ago with a homemade loom and about ten dollars worth of beads and string. His decision to make different designs out of beads was influenced by his paternal grandmother's Native American heritage.
The National Veterans Creative Arts Festival is presented by VA, Help Hospitalized Veterans and the American Legion Auxiliary. It is being hosted this year by the St. Louis VA Medical Center.
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Note to Editor: Background information is available on the Festival's Web site: www.creativeartsfestival.org.
If you want to interview Ayers, contact Susan Fleece, program specialist, after October 30 at (734) 845-3706.
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