Veteran Artist Spotlight: Martin Cervantez
CBAW is proud to Spotlight Veteran Artist Martin Cervantez ahead of his March 9th workshop event.
Just ahead of his Professional Development Workshop for CBAW, we shine our spotlight on Veteran and Artist, Martin Cervantez for the month of March!
Martin J. Cervantez enlisted in the Army Signal Corps in July 1986 as an Illustrator. His most prestigious assignment was Artist in Residence at the U.S. Army Center of Military History where he was responsible for capturing the Army’s history through art. He deployed to Afghanistan in support of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM 2008, and 2011. During these deployments he produced artwork that visually recorded Soldiers’ experiences the Army’s achievements. Two of his oil paintings were recently featured in the National Constitution Center’s public exhibition “Art of the American Soldier” in Philadelphia.
Martin is a self-taught artist who has created art since he was a child. He’s used art as his own therapy during recovery from his recent six surgeries. Martin also advocates for veteran’s art programs, and was involved at the USO Ft Belvoir, and Walter Reed; Warrior Writers from Philadelphia, and Combat Paper New Jersey, and George Mason University. Cervantez is also known for turning the Workhouse guard towers into static kaleidoscopes by using colored films on the windows of the towers, creating a dynamic piece of art that changes with time of day, and position of view. The towers were featured in the L.A. Times; From Wrongs, Rights, Los Angeles Times, L1, Travel Section, November 2, 2017. He is the 2017 recipient of the Prince William County Kathleen Seefeldt Award for Outstanding Artist.
Martin’s art gained international acclaim for his Berlin Airlift mural/assemblage in Wiesbaden, Germany, 2018, which was commissioned by the United States Army Europe. Cervantez currently resides in San Diego, where he creates art, and gives workshops to veterans.
Read on for a CBAW Q&A session with Martin, and to take in some of the beautiful selections from his portfolio.
2022 Annual Report
2022 marked our fifth year of operation as a non-profit organization, an odds-defying milestone we don’t take for granted. A small board of committed, hard-working volunteers without extensive non-profit experience founded this organization alongside me. What distinguishes CBAW can be boiled down to one essential (and deceptively simple) practice: asking for help. We know what we do well, and we know what we don’t know.
At the end of 2021, one of our fiercest, most generous longtime supporters offered to fund a full-time Director of Programs position. I knew exactly whose help I needed: Ashy Palliparambil. She and I worked together when I was a contractor at Walter Reed and Ft Belvoir. Ashy has been a partner in growing and developing the ideas that became CBAW, and she has so many skills I don’t have. She is an incredible time manager, team builder, organizer, and connector.
Around the same time, I reached out to an engaged participant whose own posts about our EOY giving campaign were far better than my own, and asked if they would be willing to help out with social media and graphics. Rob Haney’s efforts have brought new people to our programs, maintained community between scheduled events, and updated nearly every aspect of our online presence.
Their help not only made our programs reach farther than ever before, they made it possible for our board to step back from daily tasks (many of the founding board members continue to serve) and build a plan for our future that includes bolder creative programs, research initiatives, and a return to military installations. We know that the future is hybrid: accessible, recurring online programming alongside in-person opportunities for connection. We also know that there are great ideas we haven’t had yet, things we don’t know. In the following pages, we’ll share where we are and some accomplishments we’re proud of. We hope that as you flip through, you feel compelled to reach out, strive alongside us, and help us do better.
Veteran Artist Spotlight: Willie Young
Our Veteran Artist Spotlight shines on photographer, writer, and Army Veteran, our friend and Mission Belonging Board member Willie Charles Young Jr.Willie graduated from High School in 1993 from the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, in Oklahoma City,...
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