Internal Dialogue: Representing Selves is a collection of portraits of and by post-9/11 veterans. These portraits, in a range of media, represent multiple dimensions of American Veterans, including those often invisible to the civilian imagination. The exhibition is curated by Seema Reza & Joe Merritt of Community Building Art Works, a Maryland-based non-profit organization that provides high-quality creative arts workshops, led by professional artists, to patients receiving care and healthcare providers in military hospitals. It includes work by veterans Timothy Brown (USMC), Martin Cervantez (US Army), Joe Merrit (USMC), Rene Vincit (US Navy), and Willie Young (US Army)
The Reception for Internal Dialogue: Representing Selves will take place from 7-9 pm on Thursday January 30th and will include a performance by veteran/active duty service members sharing self-portraits through poetry, prose, and song. This event will be a celebration of an individual’s capacity for transformation and growth even after life-altering experiences including trauma and Illness. Performers will include the exhibiting artists as well as Bryce Benson, Anne Barlieb, Stephen Rask, and Rina Shah.
Admission is free. Tickets here.

Seema Reza is a poet and essayist and the author of two books: A Constellation of Half-Lives and When the World Breaks Open. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Writing and Community Building from Goddard College. In 2010 Seema began working with service members, veterans, and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and has since developed a unique multi-hospital arts program that encourages the use of the arts as a tool for narration, self-care and socialization. In 2015, the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore awarded Seema the Col John Gioia Patriot Award for her work with service members in military hospitals. Seema is a 2019 George W. Bush Institute Stand-To Veteran Leadership Scholar.