War and Musculoskeletal Injury Prompt Artistic Expression

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons seeks war injury related art

ROSEMONT, IL – Wartime experiences not only affect the military personnel and their loved ones, but the physicians and medical teams who treat them. As a tribute to injured troops and families, civilians and the orthopaedic surgeons who are caring and have cared for them, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is opening the call for entries to a unique, juried art exhibition: Wounded in Action: An Art Exhibition of Orthopaedic Advancements. A cash award will be given.

Wounded in Action celebrates those heroes who have had orthopaedic injuries as a result of serving our country in war. From World War II to Korea to Viet Nam, from the Gulf War to Afghanistan to Iraq, thousands of military troops serving in the United States have severe musculoskeletal injuries.

This exhibition also recognizes those orthopaedic surgeons who, throughout history, have risked their own safety to care for our troops, to save lives and limbs, to advance medical treatments, and to conduct research and learn from war in order to better serve those who sustain orthopaedic trauma.

The Exhibition is a tribute to injured troops, civilians and the orthopaedic surgeons who are caring and have cared for them as they served and/or serve our country in time of crisis.

This exhibit is open to artists in three categories:

1. Military personnel: who have sustained orthopaedic/musculoskeletal injuries in any war or family members of any age (children included) who have been affected by those injuries.
2. Orthopaedic Surgeons: who have provided medical care for wounded warriors throughout history, either in the military, in the Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program, in the course of their practice, or through orthopaedic research.
3. Artists and injured civilians: of any age whose lives have been affected by war and have been touched in some way by the loss of extremity and/or other musculoskeletal injuries of war.

There is no entry fee, and the artists are able to submit digital images of up to 3 entries online at http://www.woundedinactionart.org. Art must be original work. Eligible media include: paintings and drawings (oil, watercolor, acrylic, pencil, charcoal, etc.), fine art prints (ithographs, etching, intaglio, woodcuts, etc.), giclees, photography, graphics, cyber art, sculpture, glass, mosaics, textiles, crafts, functional art and mixed media.

The artwork should illustrate (but need not be figurative or representational) some aspect of the artist’s feelings about musculoskeletal war injuries, their effect on injuried troops and their families, the importance of excellent and compassionate trauma care, and their own relationships to these issues.

The exhibit is an extension of the Academy’s 75th Anniversary Celebration, which officially began at the 2008 Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Submissions will be accepted at woundedinactionart.org beginning May 15, 2009 and are due October 15, 2009.

To learn more about the Exhibition and its call for entries, please visit the Web site: http://www.woundedinactionart.org or contact Sandy Gordon, AAOS Public Relations Director, at (847 384-4030) or [email protected].