Courtesy Photo | A watercolor painting of a MV-22 Osprey painted by Cmdr. Monica Allen, a Navy combat...... read more read more
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By Tracie Barnthouse
SIGONELLA, Sicily - “I’m living the dream I didn’t know I had.”
So says Cmdr. Monica Allen, a Navy combat artist specializing in watercolor who is currently deployed to Naval Air Station Sigonella. Her mission, as tasked by Commander, U.S. SIXTH Fleet, is to create painted watercolor images that depict everyday support between NATO coalition members as a part of the NATO-led Operation Unified Protector.
Allen, a reservist, is one of only three in the Navy Combat Art program and is the only one currently serving in the military.
Most people don’t know who you are, said Allen of being a combat artist.
“A Navy artist? That exists?” she says with a laugh. “The problem is that there is no sub-specialty in the Navy. There is no promotion path, there is no rate. Getting to where the action is happening and trying to embed is the most difficult. You need some credibility and that’s hard if people don’t know who you are.” Because of that, Allen says that she’s challenged often and feels a need to prove herself.
And she’s done just that.
Her works of art have been displayed in the Pentagon, traveled as a part of art exhibits, and have permanent homes in the Navy archives at the Washington Navy Yard.
“You’re not just there to paint aircraft, or machines,” says Allen. “If you can show what sailors are doing on a daily basis, and try to keep up-to-date on whatever is going on, and try to get to where it’s happening, you’ve done your job.”
Art came at an early age for Allen, and she said that for as long as she can remember this is what she has wanted to do professionally. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Anthropology from Texas A&M University, and then from the California College of Arts & Crafts, Allen said that her dad raised the question of what she was going to do for a steady income. Coming from a military family - her dad was in the Navy supply corps and her mom was a Navy nurse - Allen said that it was only natural to go and talk to a recruiter, put her hand up and join as a Supply Corps officer.
After 15 years on active duty, Allen then joined the U.S. Navy reserves and pursued a degree in Art History from the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University, New York. In 1996, Allen was recalled to active duty, doing support work for NATO in Zagreb, in the former Yugoslavia. She says, “I was sitting in the UN cafeteria, crying in my soup to anybody who would listen, the fact that I couldn’t paint and be in the Navy - two things that I really loved at the same time.” A friend who was listening, a retired Marine Corps officer told her about combat art, and the rest is history. “Next thing I knew, I was putting together a portfolio from the field. I sent it to the Navy History and Heritage Command and three months later, I had orders to go to Bosnia and paint for a big exhibit.”
It was during that trip to Bosnia where Allen says she learned the ins and outs of combat art. “I hitchhiked a ride with a Black Hawk helicopter that was going up country - and you could see the desolation, the mortar fire - the villages were just decimated and it was just such an experience. The side doors were wide open, and you’re flying along and it is amazing weather, and looking down at the horror that was war. Just the opportunity to do this for the Navy is tremendous.”
The Navy Combat Art Program was founded in 1941, due to the determination and persistence of Griffith Bailey Coale, a popular muralist. According to the Navy’s History and Heritage Command, “Believing that war was imminent and recognizing the value of having competent artists present at the scene of history-making events, Coale convinced to Navy commanders to send himself and other artists into the field.” From that point on, artists have been present in battlefields during conflicts and wars.
As the paintbrush glides across the paper and Allen finishes another painting, she signs her name, followed by a drawing of an anchor, the symbol that tells the world that she’s a Navy artist.
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 05.20.2011 11:29 |
| Story ID: | 70754 |
| Location: | SIGONELLA, IT |
| Web Views: | 331 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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