PORTAGE PARK — Works of art created by author and World War II veteran Kurt Vonnegut Jr. will be on display at the National Veterans Art Museum starting Nov. 11, Veterans Day.
Vonnegut, who wrote "Slaughterhouse-Five" in 1969, fought at the Battle of the Bulge and was held as a prisoner of war in Dresden, Germany while it was bombed by Allied forces.
Selected artwork by Vonnegut, who died in 2007, will be part of the museum's Veterans Day exhibit, which will open at 10 a.m. Nov. 11 at 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave., organizers said.
The exhibit, titled "Vonnegut's Odyssey," is designed to broaden the conversation surrounding veterans and their experiences, curator and Iraq War veteran Ash Kyrie said in a statement.
"The experience of returning home and processing the effects of war is something that is shared by all veterans," Kyrie said. "Exhibiting the artwork of Vonnegut as an illustration of the post-war experience and as a creative processing tool for the artist highlights the process of the return and the complexity of the veteran experience."
The works that will be part of the exhibit will reflect the connections between Vonnegut's return home from World War II and Homer's epic of Odysseus' return home after the Trojan War, organizers said.
"We couldn't be more thrilled for this opportunity to embolden the dialog surrounding our veterans and the timeless intersection of war and art," museum Executive Director Brendan Foster said. "Vonnegut's artwork in this exhibit provides a rich expression that puts the veteran experience at the forefront of public discourse."
The museum is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. Admission is free. For more information, call 312-326-0270 or go to nvam.org.
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