Veterans and Artists 3-d printing and CAD Design Work Project

Reaching Out and Connecting to the Continuum of Arts for Change in Walsenburg through Veterans Work Project with 3-d printers at the intersection of artistic creation and civic engagement will explore community Pride of SOCO Art History/Herstory created by The New Aesthetics of Southern Colorado with the multitude of artists who created community (communes) around the subject of art that redefines the common view of aesthetics emphasizing how its integral role plays out in civically, socially engaged art and change thereby instilling equity, inclusion and social justice.
During the process of working on the CHDPHE mural Public Health is a Puzzle at Miner's Plaza we worked with four Afghan war Veterans sent to MoF from the Probation Department. Although not trained as artists they were instrumental to the completion of the mural adding their own art views while learning the practice of mural making thereby allowing the project to become transformative and authentic for our community. They expressed being disenfranchised and feeling not appreciated being unemployed therefore we put the pieces together of how to put forward the project 3-d printing with CAD design to create jobs, civic change and community development over the next two years with the first steps towards a "Makers' Space" in Huerfano.

Background:
This mural depicts the history of Miner's Plaza in Walsenburg, CO in an anthropomorphic narrative. The mural includes a statement regarding how the evolution of public health is built on the sacrifices and suffering of those who have come before, in this case the miners who lost their lives and health, thereby changing labor laws that impact our current state of public health. The message that public health is a right not a privilege and should be equitably available to all members of our community/society no matter economic status, gender, race or age.

The images of the donkeys holding up contemporary public health benefits above them are symbolic of the donkeys who blindly entered the coal mines and suffered for progress. The canaries are symbolic and represent how they were used to determine the air quality before the miners would enter.

Each individual makes up the health of a community and now more than ever shares responsibility to protect others from the COVID-19 virus.