Join us to celebrate art and the diversity of military women. Not every woman has the same experience in the military. Explore these differences in a program to debut a new video, “More Than One Story.”
The Military Women’s Memorial, in partnership with Community Building Art Works, will unveil a unique storytelling collaborative performance by military women. In addition, participants will share their experience going through the interactive workshop to create a space for them to share their experiences. This performance aims to inspire understanding, dialog and connection with participants, audience members and community leaders.
Over two days in May 2021, 9 military women from across the United States of America gathered virtually to weave their stories into a collaborative performance. This work is addressed to the women they came from, the women they were, the women they are becoming, and the women who will walk the trail they blazed. Join us as we unveil the final product at the Military Women’s Memorial, hear remarks from the participants at a reception at the Memorial that inspires understanding, dialog, and connection between participants, audience members, and community leaders.
REGISTER HERE TO JOIN US IN PERSON
The Military Women’s Memorial honors and tells the stories of women, past and present, who serve our nation. We are the leading memorial and education center honoring women’s contributions to the service of the United States of America. As the only historical repository documenting all military women’s service, we educate and inspire through innovative and interactive exhibitions, our world-class collections, and engaging programs and events for all generations. We honor the commitment, contributions and experiences of every woman who serves in, or with, the Armed Forces.
Community Building Art Works is a non-profit organization that helps the ordinary people we ask to be heroes tell their stories through workshops led by professional artists. Our programs reach thousands of people annually, and were featured in the 2018 award-winning HBO Documentary “We Are Not Done Yet.” CBAW’s prestigious faculty include award-winning writers, artists, and musicians who have lectured and taught at institutions from Columbia University to Stanford.
Seema Reza is the author of the poetry collection A Constellation of Half-Lives and the memoir When the World Breaks Open. Seema has led writing workshops within correctional facilities, military and civilian hospitals, elementary and secondary schools, and universities. She is the CEO of Community Building Art Works, a unique arts organization that encourages the use of the arts as a tool for narration, self-care and socialization among a military population struggling with emotional and physical injuries. Reza was awarded the Col John Gioia Patriot Award by the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore for her work with service members. An alumnus of Goddard College and VONA, she has had writing online and in print in McSweeney’s, The Washington Post, The LA Review, The Feminist Wire, The Offing, and Entropy among others. Case studies from her work with military populations have appeared in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Related Diseases in Combat Veterans. She has performed across the country at universities, theaters, festivals, bookstores, conferences, & one fine mattress shop.
The private reception for More Than One Story is generously sponsored by the following:
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.
