Born in Fairfax, VA, Steve Rands does not view himself as a traditional professional artist. To the contrary, he is a retired Naval Officer, helicopter pilot and veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Though he does hold degrees in mechanical engineering, and human systems integration, his only formal training as an artist has been through a few classes … Read More
Eric Mansfield
Eric Mansfield is a U.S. Army veteran with service in Iraq, Honduras, Hurricane Katrina and state emergencies during his 20-year career with the Ohio Army National Guard. A retired Major, Eric continues to serve the Army representing soldiers, families and veterans in the Buckeye state with his appointment from the Pentagon as the Civilian Assistant to the Secretary of the … Read More
Joan Zopf-Faram
Photography isn’t simply her vocation; it’s her way of life. Interpreting the world around her through the art she creates from the world around her is a passion – one she’s had for nearly 40-years. Her talent was initially noticed while serving as a Photographer’s Mate in the U.S. Navy. In 1983, she was selected by a portfolio review to … Read More
Dennis Clancey
Dennis is a U.S. Army veteran. A graduate of West Point, his service included a year in Iraq’s Triangle of Death as an infantry platoon leader and executive officer in the 502nd Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. After six years of active-duty service and four years of operations experience in Europe and North America with Amazon.com, Dennis is now … Read More
Kensington Schneider
Kensington “Kensi” Schneider is a veteran of the Army Reserve. She has a B.A. in, both, international relations and public relations from Syracuse University. In 2013, she had the opportunity to work at Sesame Street as a Transmedia Production Assistant, curating content for SesameStreet.org and coordinating efforts to ensure seamless messaging across On-Air programming, PR, YouTube, PBS-affiliate site, digital and … Read More
Brian Duchaney
Brian Duchaney is a freelance editor and writer. A ten year veteran of the U.S. Army, his memoir about his military service, published by the journal War, Literature, & the Arts, was nominated for inclusion in the Best American Essays of 2014 and will be included in the forthcoming anthology: Quagmire: Personal Responses to Iraq and Afghanistan (University of Nebraska … Read More
Yerania Del Orbe
Yerania Del Orbe is a Dominican American Actor, Writer, Director and Producer. Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in The Bronx, NY. She attended High school at St. Thomas Aquinas in the Bronx and served 10yrs in The US Army. She began her higher education at Central Texas College, Temple Texas studying Business during her military service. She was … Read More
Dave Lara
Dave Lara is a Mexican-American-Jew born in Castroville, California, to a poor family of migrant workers. In 1965, at seventeen years of age, he was emancipated and joined the U.S. Navy in the hopes of avoiding duty in the Vietnam War. Eleven months later, he found himself in the jungles of Vietnam where he learned he could be someone of … Read More
Emmett Graham
Emmett is a United States Marine Corps Veteran. Emmett Graham is a realist painter who lives in the southwest United States. He is a Marine Corps veteran, born in Warner Robins, Georgia and raised in Pueblo, Colorado. Graham received his formal training at Scottsdale Artists’ School, holds a BFA in Painting from Arizona State University. Graham’s paintings center on issues of inherited cultural Identities, rendering indigenous … Read More
Melissa Milich
Melissa had already published two children’s books and several magazine articles by the time she joined the Navy. She was gunning for a cushy job in Public Affairs, but the Detailer barked back, “It’s Intelligence or nothing!” a new career track that Melissa found a strange but comfortable fit. During one deployment, she recalled how the military pressed her literary … Read More