Breaking the SilenceA Juried Exhibition of Veteran Art
Oak Park Art League | August 2026
Some things don't have words. Not because they can't be described, but because language wasn't built to hold them. The weight of a deployment. The quiet after a discharge. The distance between who you were before and who you came home as.
Art can hold what words can't.
Breaking the Silence brings together 30 original works by Chicago-area veteran artists — paintings, photographs, sculptures, and mixed media created by people who know that experience firsthand. The exhibition takes its name seriously: this is not art about veterans. It's art by veterans, made on their own terms, in their own voice.
Throughout August, the Oak Park Art League becomes more than a gallery. Artist talks, live performances, and community events run the length of the month — opportunities to hear directly from the artists behind the work, and to understand what it took to make it.
The exhibition is juried by:
Michael Bever — Chicago Artistic Director, New Century Art Guild. Army Ranger veteran and professional artist leading NCAG's Chicago chapter programming.
Sergio Gomez — Mexican-American visual artist, curator, and arts educator. Former Director of Exhibitions at the Zhou B Art Center; founder of 33 Contemporary Gallery and Art NXT Level. His work is held in the permanent collections of the National Museum of Mexican Art and the Brauer Museum of Art, with over 45 solo exhibitions across the U.S. and internationally.
Troy J. Muller — Executive Director, New Century Art Guild. Omaha-based artist and educator with a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska. He taught at Iowa Western Community College and Metro Community College for over three decades and is a dedicated advocate for veteran benefits.
Breaking the Silence is presented by New Century Art Guild, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to transforming veterans' lives through art. Founded by veterans. Open to all.
Free and open to the public. Oak Park Art League | August 2026