Volume 2

Volume 2 was released in print format in 2016 as Upstate Warrior Solution and Robert Chambers present Bullets and Bandaids – Art Show and Online Auction. From this second installment emerged the collaborative process between veterans, story-tellers, and artists that is now central to the work we do today.

Download Volume 2 as a PDF to see the original publication and more art. Veterans’ stories are provided below.

Gallery of Select Works

We live in a free society; one whose foundation rests on the backs of those brave and generous enough to willfully sacrifice themselves for the ones they love. Some lost their lives, others, their souls, their innocence, and some came back better than they were at the start, fulfilled by their duty and spurred on by the triumph of the positive change they created. The goal of this show is to attempt to shed some light on a few of those.

Collected here are artists and writers, some of them veterans, some of them simply generous with their craft, but all wanting the same thing: For all of us to take a brief pause and consider the life we live and with whom we live it. Through this, our show is a communicative monument to the courage, sacrifice, and nobility of attempting to better the world in which we find ourselves.

In these pages you will discover different relationships that are key to our societal development, where two seemingly opposing sides, art and war, can come together in pride for one another. The first portion of this book deals with the veterans telling their stories, coupled with local artists expressing themselves with that story in mind. Following that are local artists, many of them also veterans, who wanted to contribute, not simply to raising funds for Upstate Warrior Solution, but to strive to communicate their passion for the subject to the rest of us. This dynamic, this dialogue, can lead us to a higher understanding, spurred on by our social duty to care for our fellow man. It’s not an easy journey. So may this show be as wind at our backs. ­

– Robert Chambers

Veterans’ Stories

• “Through Smoke and Fire to Order and Peace“, written by Jonathan Burgess, inspired by the experiences of Donny Ng
• “Brett Claycamp“, Written by Robert Chambers, inspired by the experiences of Brett Claycamp
• Anonymous, Written by Robert Chambers 
• “Ghost“, Written by Robert Chambers, inspired by the experiences of Jonathan Burgess
• “Patricia Blackwell“, Written and inspired by the experiences of Patricia Blackwell
• “Charlie Hall“, Written by Robert Chambers, inspired by the experiences of Charlie Hall
• “Mastin Robeson“, Written by Robert Chambers, inspired by the experiences of Mastin Robeson