the mission
"When Words Aren’t Enough" creates a bridge between the the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum and the Near South community. It aims to involve community members in a dynamic artistic experience which meaningfully draws a connection between NVVAM’s permanent collection and the participants’ own creation of artwork to express feelings and experiences that cannot be expressed through words.
The project aims to provide participants with a notion that art is for everyone; even art that has been created out of such profound circumstances as war. The artists who have work in the collection have used the creation of art as a vehicle to release their emotions about their experiences in Vietnam. The NVVAM wants to communicate to participants that they too may have experienced some life-changing events, whether positive or negative, and that art can be used by everyone as an outlet to communicate those experiences.