Beyond the Frame | Personal Projects by Veterans invites visitors to encounter photography shaped not only by artistic vision but by lived experience, service, and personal transformation. Presented at the David & Laura Merage Foundation Gallery, the exhibition brings together new work created by eight Colorado artists who have served in the U.S. military, each developing a deeply personal project over six months of advanced study. Their images reflect stories honed through discipline, curiosity, and an extended commitment to looking inward—beyond memory, beyond service, and beyond the single frame.
These projects mark the culmination of CPAC’s Veterans Workshop Series, an initiative launched in 2017 to offer Veterans meaningful access to professional photographic education at no cost. Now in its ninth year, the program has supported 76 participants, nurturing a space where creativity becomes a way to reclaim narrative, build community, and discover new forms of expression.
Alongside the new cohort, the exhibition features works by sixteen alumni who continue to refine their practices professionally, demonstrating the lasting impact of this sustained mentorship. Their presence underscores the long arc of artistic growth—how a single workshop can blossom into a lifetime of visual exploration.
Each participating artist has pursued a subject that resonates personally. Jennifer Adair turns her lens toward women’s motorcycle groups, capturing the ways camaraderie and empowerment manifest on the open road. Harold Robert looks to his Scottish heritage, weaving portraiture and landscape into a meditation on identity and lineage. Others explore family histories, recovery, or the quiet rhythms of everyday life. Together, their works form a richly varied portrait of contemporary Veteran artists.
Year after year, the exhibition reveals how these photographers expand their voices, deepen their craft, and continue to grow—both as artists and as storytellers.
Image: © Jennifer Adair
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