Veterans memorial sculpture unveils at the Welcome Center 11/12...

At a Veterans Day observance, Monday, November 12, 2012, 11:00AM to 1:00PM in the Wayne State University Welcome Center, the university's Student Veterans Organization in partnership with the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts is unveiling a memorial sculpture for permanent display.

Attendees at the ceremonial unveiling also will have an opportunity to preview the film Back Home: A Tale of a Warrior's Battle, written and produced by WSU student and military veteran, Cornelius Porter, to be screened in the Welcome Center Auditorium.

The Welcome Center is located at 42 W. Warren Ave., Detroit, MI 48202.

The sculpture Homer, Michigan, 1971, constructed of painted wood and glass and containing an American flag, was created in 1975 by WSU art alumnus John Colburn Slick and is a piece in his Midwestern Restoration Series of artworks. The intimate piece has a gentle, yet powerful appeal. The sculpture conveys a hometown feeling of an old-fashioned Midwestern front porch. An encased tri-folded American flag placed on the seat of a simple ladder-back chair injects an element of personal loss, honor and quiet reflection. The artist had the 48 star flag folded in the official manner by a U.S. military veteran specifically for this sculpture.

A commemorative plaque for the sculpture was composed and donated by members of Wayne State's Student Veteran's Organization with the statement, "In memory of all who have gone before us, we leave this for those who will follow." It includes this quote attributed to Aristotle, "We make war that we may live in peace."

John Colburn Slick was born in Detroit in 1946. He earned a BFA in art at Wayne State University in 1970. After graduating, Mr. Slick taught at WSU from 1971 to 1979. He was an academic services officer for the WSU Department of Art and Art History from 1979 to 1982. His work reflects an elegance of refined craftsmanship and a simplicity of form. It honors the Midwestern work ethic and pays homage to an honest, austere aesthetic. His works have been exhibited throughout Michigan, including the Cranbrook Art Museum and the Detroit Institute of Arts. The sculpture Homer, Michigan, 1971 was a gift from the artist to Wayne State's University Art Collection in 2011.

http://events.wayne.edu/2012/11/12/veterans-day-art-unveiling-celebration-43682/