An ambitious grant combo will continue San Benito County Arts Council's Veteran Voice Project and partnering with Frank Perez, expands into San Benito High School.   

The San Benito County Arts Council has been awarded a $9,000 grant from the California Arts Council’s Veterans’ Initiative in the Arts Program for the continuation of its "Veterans' Voice Project". The project, which began in 2016, is a collaborative visual and digital storytelling project between the San Benito County Arts Council, American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars to give voice to local veterans and their stories. The first part of this collaboration took place from October 2016-May 2017 with the creation of a 58’x22’ mural on the East St. side of the Veterans’ Memorial Building and five short films on local veteran’s stories. These artworks were celebrated with an outdoor film screening and block party BBQ with veterans and their families in May 2017.

As part of the second year of this project, the Arts Council will work with new artists, high school students and project partners, including San Benito High School teacher, Frank Pérez, local writer and veteran, Trish Graves, and a CMAP digital media artist, to examine the intersection of military service and Mexican-American identity and culture.  High school students from Mr. Pérez’s Mexican-American History studies class will interview local Latino servicemen and women, as well as collect personal and historic artifacts, to create written narratives and multi-media projects that reflect these veterans’ stories. Students’ writings and media projects will be presented in a final exhibition in Spring 2018. 

The Veterans' Voices Project is also supported with the Voices of Witness Program Fellowship, awarded to Frank Pérez at SBHS.  Pérez intends to use his fellowship support to publish a book with the students’ writing at the end of the project.  For more information about this project or to get involved, please contact the Arts Council at 831.636.2787 or at [email protected].