Command and General Staff College Foundation News - 20

FEATURE

20 - CGSC FOUNDATION NEWS

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Below, Marge Eckhardt,
wife of Foundation
trustee Bill Eckhardt, and
other guests peruse the
Art of War collection
during the exhibit kick-off
reception on March 2 at
the Lenexa City Hall.

PHOTOS BY MARK H. WIGGINS

The CGSC Foundation with support from the Todd
Weiner Gallery in Kansas City hosted an art exhibit
entitled "The Art of War" at the Lenexa, Kansas City Hall art
gallery from Feb. 28- April 28.
As part of the celebration of the exhibit, the Foundation and
the gallery invited the public to a free reception on March
2. More than 70 attended the reception and the event was
covered by the Kansas City Fox television affiliate (WDAFTV, Fox 4 KC).
The Art of War exhibit is part of the CGSC Foundation's
"Art of War Initiative" to preserve, promote, and protect
the life and longevity of the CGSC art and gift collection,
which comprises more than 3,800 items. Until the Art of
War Initiative began in summer 2016 with a partnership
between the CGSC Foundation and the Todd Weiner Gallery,
the general public has never truly had an opportunity to see
this collection. The City of Lenexa exhibit represents only
the second time selections from this collection have been on
public display outside of Fort Leavenworth.
The March 2 reception opened with a short talks by
Foundation CEO Doug Tystad and Meghan Dohogne from
the Todd Weiner Gallery. Tystad also showed a video that
explains the Foundation's Art of War Initiative to preserve,
promote, and protect the life and longevity of more than 3,800
items in the CGSC art and gift collection.
The Command and General Staff College has been
educating military officers for service to the nation since
1881. International military officers began attending the
college in 1894. The CGSC art and gift collection traces
its beginnings to 1943 at the height of World War II with a
plaque from the Polish delegation attending the college. Gifts
prior to that were not necessarily catalogued or maintained,
however some gifts, such as a painted portrait of Confederate
General Robert E. Lee donated in 1934 by the Daughters of
the American Confederacy, still exist. In the 1970s, CGSC
classes began a tradition of giving gifts to the college upon
graduation. That tradition has taken many forms, from
stained glass windows currently displayed in the Lewis and
Clark Center (the home of CGSC), to original works of art
presented annually on a topic chosen by the class. In addition,
many of the international military student officers from each
class annually gift the college with tokens of appreciation
representing their country. Visiting dignitaries and interested

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by Mark H. Wiggins, Managing Editor

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Foundation conducts
second exhibit of
'The Art of War'

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Meghan Dohogne, assistant
gallery director of the Todd
Weiner Gallery in Kansas City,
Missouri, speaks to guests
about the CGSC art and gift
collection during the reception
on March 2.

donors have also gifted the college with works of art.
Examples of these gifts range from a presidential portrait
collection to bronze statues commemorating the military's
role in the war in Afghanistan.
The vision of the Art of War Initiative is to "preserve,
educate, celebrate and engage" - preserve by fully cataloguing
the collection; educate with published and video projects;
celebrate and engage by using objects from the collection
in exhibits both within the college and the community;
plan for the future with an endowment; and finally protect
the collection by designing and reimagining the collection
storage and display for the foreseeable future. The CGSC
Foundation is continuing to work with the CGSC leadership
and the Army to explore how the Foundation can bring
the initiative to reality and embark on an Army-approved
program to preserve and promote the collection. Meanwhile,
plans for the next public exhibit are underway.
For more information visit www.theartofwarinitiative.org.
The Foundation thanks you in advance for any support you
can provide.
For more photos from the March 2 reception see
https://flic.kr/s/aHskT8akhy
www.cgscfoundation.org
http://www.theartofwarinitiative.org https://flic.kr/s/aHskT8akhy http://www.cgscfoundation.org
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