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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 6, 2006
CONTACT: Ronette Rumpca, (605) 773-6011 or Ronette.Rumpca@state.sd.us
Vietnam Combat Art Exhibit coming to Cultural Heritage Center
PIERRE, S.D. -- Two South Dakota men, Jim Pollock of Pierre and Stephen Randall of Sioux Falls, served as combat artists in Vietnam. A selection of the Vietnam work of Pollock and Randall, as well as some of their current original art, will be on exhibit in the Education Room of the CulturalHeritageCenter from Sept. 10, 2006, through February 2007.
There will be a public presentation about the Combat Art Program on Sunday, Sept. 17, at 2 p.m. Pollock and Randall will provide background information, narrative, and answer questions about their experiences as combat artists in Vietnam.
The U.S. Army Vietnam Combat Art Program was established in 1966. Through an army-wide competition, teams of soldier artists were selected to create a pictorial record of the Vietnam conflict. Working in teams of five, the combat artists spent 60 days of temporary duty in Vietnam, making sketches and gathering impressions while traveling from unit to unit. Some of the images recorded by the combat artists were of civilian markets, defense construction, medical treatment, ambush patrols, enemy attacks, incoming rocket and mortar fire, and helicopter maneuvers.
Each team then went to Hawaii where they fleshed out their sketches and impressions into finished works of art. Pollock served as a member of Combat Art Team IV in 1967 and Randall was a member of Team VII in 1968. The program was unique in that its artists were selected exclusively by competition from the army ranks whereas before most military artists had been civilian art professionals.
More than 40 soldier artists participated in the U.S. Army Vietnam Combat Art Program. Their work is permanently archived in the U.S. Army Center of Military History, Army Art Collection in Washington, D.C. The soldier artists who served in the Combat Art Program had the freedom to express themselves as they saw fit and were encouraged to use their personal artistic style. The works these artists created give an uncommon and compelling look at the every-day life of army soldiers at war.
Today, Randall works as an Urban Planner for the City of Sioux Falls and Pollock is a freelance artist in Pierre.
Regular hours have returned for the museum at the Cultural Heritage Center. Hours are once again 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-4:30 p.m. Sundays and most legal holidays. The center is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and Easter. For more information contact (605) 773-3458 or sdshs@state.sd.us.
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The South Dakota State Historical Society is a division of the Department of Tourism and State Development and strives to help the state meet the goals of the 2010 Initiative by enhancing history as a tool for economic development and cultural tourism. The society is headquartered at the South DakotaCulturalHeritageCenter in Pierre. The center houses the society’s world-class museum, the archives, and the historic preservation, publishing and administrative/development offices. Call (605) 773-3458 or visit www.sdhistory.org for more information. The society also has an archaeology office in Rapid City; call (605) 394-1936 for more information.
Caption: “Looking Down the Trail” is one of the art works done by Jim Pollock of Pierre when he was a member of the U.S. Army Vietnam Combat Art Program.