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HELP US REACH OUR GOAL: $250K
Your support enables [HAS HEART] to pay participants (Veteran, Designer, Photographer, Videographer, Writer) in each project in addition to project costs, travel logistics, and product production. Corporate sponsorships and brand partnerships are available upon request.
*Each of the Veteran’s stories from the 50 States: Veterans + Artists United projects are produced into Limited Edition products where 25% of the proceeds directly benefit each Veteran and their family.
STATE 08: New York, New York, U.S.A.
DESIGN TITLE: Don’t Look Back
VETERAN: William “Uncle Willy” Busciolano, U.S. Army
ARTIST: Jon Contino
PARTNER: 9/11 Memorial & Museum, AIGA
SPONSOR: Alpha Industries
U.S. Army Veteran and Brooklyn native William Busciolano— AKA “Uncle Willy”— and his great-nephew and designer Jon Contino, collaborated to create the design “Don’t Look Back,” an illustrative expression of Uncle Willy’s spontaneous and willing attitude he adopted after serving in the Army during WWII. A crane operator during the Normandy Landings (also referred to as D-Day), Uncle Willy partook in the largest seaborne invasion in history that began the liberation of northwestern Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Although his reason for being in Europe was because of the worst war in human history, Uncle Willy refused to look back and have that stop him as he enjoyed a whirlwind of experiences traveling throughout Europe meeting people in Scotland, England, Wales, Paris, and Normandy.
Reflecting on his advice that can be passed down to younger Veterans, “Don’t Look Back” depicts an eagle intensely focused on moving forward. Hand-illustrated by his great nephew and designer Jon Contino, inspiration was pulled from the variety of Uncle Willy’s WWII-era U.S. Army patches and insignia of that time. Although a vintage aesthetic, the message to live life to its fullest, try everything, to not look back and “fuhgetaboutit,” remains timeless.
In collaboration with Alpha Industries, Inc., an American heritage military apparel manufacturer established in 1959, each of the 50 States: Veterans + Artists United designs are produced in limited quantities (Made in USA) with 25% of proceeds directly benefiting each Veteran and their family.
PATCHES:
PRODUCED IN AMERICA
SHIRTS:
PRINTED IN AMERICA
FEATURED mediA:
Videographer Scott Beer (Animus Studios) from our Rhode Island project was recently interviewed on The Video Jungle podcast where he shared his perspective from participating in the project and the opportunity he seized to share Veteran Josh Chiarini’s powerful story and his collaborative design process with designers Jay Biethan and Rashelle Palmer.
“BY SHARING YOUR STORY WITH AN ARTIST,
IT BECOMES SOMETHING CREATIVE…
THE DESIGN IS A PIECE OF YOU, AND BY RELEASING IT,
YOU WILL HOPEFULLY BE IMPACTING OTHERS.”
-Monique Brown, Veteran
[HAS HEART] is a Michigan-based nonprofit organization established by 8-year U.S. Navy Veteran, Michael Hyacinthe and artist/designer, Tyler Way. Originally united over a cup of coffee in 2010, they quickly discovered the disconnect between their two worlds.
They realized the power of the creative process once Michael met a local quadriplegic Marine who loved t-shirts and asked Tyler to co-create a design that shared his story. Since then, the HERO[series] has continued to pair Veterans with designers for the shared mission to tell their story through the mediums of art, design, and fashion.
. . . . .
“Without their sacrifice, there is no freedom of…”
“ALL VETERANS HAVE A STORY TO TELL.
DESIGNERS SHOULD USE THEIR ABILITY TO TELL THEIR STORIES,
TO CREATE, AND TO BE ABLE TO START A CONVERSATION.”
-Victor Melendez, Designer
We are incredibly thankful for our growing list of donors, sponsors, and partners. To learn how you and/or your business can sponsor a state project, EMAIL US for more information.
We’ve made an ambitious commitment to impact more Veterans, engage more creatives, and reach more civilians through our “50 States: Veterans + Artists United” working tour. To make it happen, we’re searching for like-minded individuals, businesses, brands, and corporations that share our passion for Veterans and the creative arts.
Right on the boarder of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, we found our little end-of-summer sanctuary. It was mid-September, the warm days were fleeting, and I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to my favorite season. With some spare time before the state project, we drove through rural New Jersey to get to the wilderness of the Delaware Water Gap.
The element of a road trip for this “50 States: Artists + Veterans United” tour was crucial for us because we were determined to piece together the diversity of this country, both socially and geographically. New York City is a place that, although very relevant in the country’s culture and media, feels far away to most living in the United States.
We began our time in Connecticut nestled near a beautiful field of sunflowers. Those are words I can’t say I’ve ever expected to type out, but it’s true and we have photo-evidence to prove it.
Did you guys know that Pennsylvania is super hilly? Well, we did not. I remember driving to the Warwick Hills campground in Warwick, Pennsylvania, that was located just 45 minutes outside of Philadelphia, and being surprised by the winding roads and huge hills that turned into rolling hills when we were almost to Warwick.
Tyler and I have often noted how different this experience would be without Noel. When we shared the tour with our families, one of their responses was wondering what we were going to do with “the cat.”
After a couple nights spent in Cabela’s parking lot in Hudson, MA, we were pretty excited and slightly anxious to get to Boston, our first “major” city stop on the tour. But before e
After spending a couple nights in a holding pattern in parking lots at a Cabela’s in Maine then a Walmart in New Hampshire, we finally packed up the car with drinks and snacks for the road and a hour or so drive later, we found ourselves already in Portsmouth – 68 miles later! We didn’t even get a chance to start eating our Peanut Butter m&m’s. Sad, I know.
After leaving Vermont, we headed east and rolled into White Mountain National Forest near Gilead, Maine. We stopped along the Wild River and immediately became aware of our surroundings: birds singing, not another person or car in sight, the freshest air we’ve ever smelled, the cool shade of the trees with sun occasionally poking through, and the peaceful sound of the flowing water.
After over a year of planning, countless emails, pitches, grant applications, conference calls, and meetings, the day to hook up the Airstream and hit the road arrived. Our journey to our first state project in Vermont included a pit stop at Niagra Falls to kickstart our new nomadic life on the road.
As a part of the Texas state project of the “50 States: Artists + Veterans United” tour hosted by USAA in partnership with AIGA Austin, HAS HEART will share how the mediums of art, design, and fashion are uniting the military, creative, and civilian communities.
Years in the making, a partnership with AIGA and its 70+ chapters made up of over 25,000 creative-minded members is the key for the future of the HERO[series]. As a small nonprofit organization, [HAS HEART] is the connection point for a cross-cultural exchange between a Veteran and a designer. Having the largest organization for design means the doors are opening wide for more Veterans to share their stories.
In November, Sgt. (Ret.) Eric Lund received a call he’s always been waiting for but never knew when it would come… On the other end of the line was a voice telling him they found a match and he and his family needed to catch the 4pm flight that afternoon from Grand Rapids, MI to Baltimore, MD. He was going-in for a double-arm transplant.
For help when it’s difficult to know what to say, [HAS HEART] has partnered with Michigan-based greeting card company, Design-Design to create a line of greeting cards (made in Grand Rapids, MI) to help our fellow Americans share their support for those who served.
One day while we stayed in a Target parking lot between state stops, Kendra bought a faux pumpkin along with some acrylic paints and brushes to bring a little Fall feeling to our Airstream — [HAS HEART] edition, of course!
As amazing as it is living and working on the road, it can be quite exhausting. Living in an Airstream makes you think about things you may have taken for granted previously: location to sleep/where to park the trailer, water consumption, water waste, electricity, waste disposal – aka the stinky stuff. One thing we don’t have to worry about anymore is if we’ll be getting a good night’s sleep.
Planning and executing a fifty-state tour doesn’t just happen overnight. This concept was brewing for almost two years and required a handful of life changes to prepare for this dramatic lifestyle change. And even then, it came together last minute with a few miracles and a handful of incredible people making it possible along the way.
[HAS HEART] is proud, honored, and excited to officially announce our apparel partnership with American military heritage brand, Alpha Industries.
When Tyler approached me about the 50 States: Veterans + Artists United tour, I was a little hesitant. The thought of leaving my family for two years while living in a 200 square-foot box obviously was intimidating.
ArtPrize 2017 is underway at our home base of Grand Rapids, MI — marking our 6th annual HERO[series] exhibit and pop-up shop. Within the first week of it opening, it was selected as a Top-5 entry within the 2-Dimensional category as part of ArtPrize’s Juror-Selected “Short List.”
[HAS HEART] + Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room have collaborated for a special “Handpicked at the Roastery” pop-up shop featuring the design and artwork of U.S. Veterans from across the country from Sept 12-early November.
We’re taking our HERO[series] concept on the road to partner a Veteran with a graphic designer in all 50 states with the shared mission to tell their story through the mediums of art, design, and fashion. Find the state project nearest you… We’ll see you on the road!
For millions of Veterans, survival was more than just a “theme” but rather a life or death lifestyle, literally, that they had to adopt while deployed.
On the contrary, for creatives, survival has a much different connotation with much, much less severe consequences.
After five years of annual HERO[series] design projects, [HAS HEART] has been able to refine the Veteran and artist collaboration process into a streamlined, efficient two-day design process — making it easily repeatable over and over again in order to impact more Veterans, engage more creatives, and reach more civilians…
Since that first project in 2011 when Tyler literally and figuratively became the creative arms and hands of a quadriplegic U.S. Marine, both he and Michael knew they had a new mission and duty to continue sharing Veterans stories through this powerful collaborative outlet.
Not long after their initial meeting, Hyacinthe met a local U.S. Marine who was paralyzed from the neck-down and lost his ability to speak due to injuries suffered in Iraq. Once he learned of the Marine’s love of t-shirts from his full-time nurse, Hyacinthe called Way and asked if he’d be interested in helping create a t-shirt design with the Marine…
When Michael Hyacinthe, an 8-year U.S. Navy Marine met with artist/designer, Tyler Way, for coffee one Saturday morning, they quickly realized the severe disconnect between their two worlds.
At that point, they both knew they had to figure out a way to bridge that divide, which was their motivation behind establishing [HAS HEART].
FOLLOW THE JOURNEY: