Today is Memorial Day, and in honor of those who have served, I wanted to take a look at an artist who is also a military veteran.

Jeffrey Stenbom grew up in the American Midwest where he was attending art college. But just eight days after 9/11, the brave young man joined the Army. After a rough deployment in Iraq, the young man returned to the States, injured in both mind and body. He knew he needed to find a way to work through his PTSD, but he wasn’t sure where to turn. Luckily for us all, he decided to try returning to art and began working with glass.

“Creating art is an escape for me. It is my outlet from within, from the confines of my own mind. The experiences I had in the military and particularly in Iraq shaped who I have become as a person. I do not always know how to interpret my thoughts and memories of these experiences in words, so art becomes my medium.”

-Jeffrey Stenbom Artist Statement

Stenbom’s work is undeniably powerful and impactful. I feel like it’s going to be one I will remember forever.

I found today’s artist through an amazing organization, the United States Veterans’ Artist Alliance. The USVAA was founded in 2004 by military veterans who wanted to highlight the work of fellow veterans in the arts, humanities, and entertainment industries.

You can follow Jeffrey Stenbom on his website and on Instagram. And you can learn more about the USVAA and explore more of their artists on the organization’s website.

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Pictured: Jeffrey Stenbom, “Every Year”, 2017; kilnformed glass A recent study by the Department of Veterans Affairs included over 55 million veteran records from 1979 to 2014, gathered from every state in the US. The report revealed that an average of 20 veterans commit suicide nationwide each day; 7300 veterans commit suicide every year. “After serving in the United States Army and being deployed to Iraq, I faced new challenges dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and was not sure what to do with my life. I was fortunate to get back into art and start learning the medium of glass. Being wounded and dealing with the pains of combat (both mentally and physically) takes a toll on a person. These experiences have led me to search for passionate and creative means of exploring my emotions, political beliefs, personal views of the world around me and psychological distress.” – Jeffrey Stenbom More info at link in the bio This work is on view during “Mutual Intelligibility”, a group exhibition featuring work by: Helen Lee, Anna Mlasowsky, and Jeffrey Stenbom Bullseye Projects is open Veterans Day weekend Friday and Saturday from noon – 5pm #JeffreyStenbom #EveryYear #Veteran #VeteransDay #MutualIntelligibility #BullseyeProjects #ContemporaryArt #ContemporaryGlass #ContemporaryCraft #GlassArt #Glass #ConceptArt #Communication #Installation #BullseyeGlass #BullseyeGlassCo

A post shared by Bullseye Projects (@bullseyeprojects) on Nov 9, 2017 at 3:09pm PST

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Burning the Midnight Oil!!!!! #art #glass #pilchuckglassschool #coldworking #bullseyeglass #midnightoil #kilnglass #kilncasting #kilncastglass #artwork

A post shared by Jeffrey Stenbom (@jmstenbom) on Sep 13, 2017 at 12:44am PDT

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Artist Jeffrey Stenbom in residence at Bullseye Glass Company's factory studio in Portland, Oregon Pictured: a selection of cast glass works in progress by Jeffrey Stenbom #JeffreyStenbom #BullseyeProjects #ContemporaryArt #ContemporaryGlass#ContemporaryCraft #GlassArt #Sculpture #Sculptural #Casting #KilnformedGlass #Heart #Purple #Glass #Sculpture #BullseyeGlassCo #BullseyeGlass #grenade

A post shared by Bullseye Projects (@bullseyeprojects) on Apr 4, 2017 at 1:14pm PDT

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EVERLASTING IMPACT, Jeffrey Stenbom #heroeshall #art #orangecounty #military #jeffreystenbom #everlastingimpact

A post shared by Dave Barton (@rudeguerrilla) on Oct 12, 2018 at 1:28pm PDT

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If any of you are up around Grand Marais, MN on Saturday April 8th, 2017 or would like to come up I will be doing an artist talk at the Grand Marais Art Colony at 2pm about my work. Come check it out! Join us! Jeffrey's artist talk will be hosted at Johnson Heritage Post Gallery. Learn more here: http://grandmaraisartcolony.org/workshop.cfm?wid=710 #sculpture #meaningfulart #meaningfulartwork #art #castglass #artwork #glasscasting #artistlecture #grandmarais #grandmaraismn #grandmaraisartcolony #journey #artjourney #northshoremn

A post shared by Jeffrey Stenbom (@jmstenbom) on Apr 4, 2017 at 1:27pm PDT