Soldier hosting Remembrance Gallery

By Mo Cranker on November 5, 2018.

NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
Canadian soldier Karl Holmstrom stands with one of his paintings Friday afternoon at his Remembrance Gallery on Second Street S.E. The gallery is open for a few weeks with all of the art on display being up for sale – all proceeds go to charities to help veterans.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

An empty store downtown has been turned into something special for the next couple of weeks.

A Gallery of Remembrance has been put together by Canadian soldier Karl Holmstrom and it features 100 pieces of his art, a recreated trench display and much more.

“I took it upon myself to do 100 pieces of art for the 100th anniversary of Remembrance Day,” he said. “This is really to commemorate all of the soldiers who have come before us.

“This serves as a reminder of what sacrifice is and it will hopefully help us remember.”

The gallery is located 617 Second St. S.E. and Holmstrom says there are three main parts to the gallery.

“The biggest part for me is the increased awareness and understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder,” said Holmstrom. “There’s a huge disconnect between the public and the military and I really want to push that home. Having PTSD doesn’t degrade you.

“We’re also raising money for Wounded Warriors Canada and Soldier On Canada to help with their programs.

“The last part is to get people talking with veterans to understand how many there are living in our community.”

All of the items in the gallery are part of an ongoing silent auction, with all proceeds going to his two aforementioned charities.

Holmstrom, originally from Morinville, toured Afghanistan as part of the Canadian Armed Forced from November 2009 to April of 2010 and is currently stationed at CFB Suffield.

“Right now I’m at Suffield and working on range control — putting out grassfires, doing security checks and lots of other tasks that pop up,” he said. “I’ve been all over Canada and to a number of different countries and I’ve had a lot of different experiences over the years.”

The gallery will be hosting roughly 10 veterans Friday from 7-10 p.m.

“There’s going to be some snacks and coffee here and I’m hoping 10 or so veterans come out — I’ve sent a lot of messages out, so we’ll see,” he said.

The art touches on a number of war-related subjects, including historical events and Holmstrom’s own personal experiences.

“I mainly focused on World War One items but I tried to create things that would have a broad audience,” he said. “There’s some flags, 15 portraits of 15 unnamed soldiers from different countries and even some old propaganda.

“There’s a good mix of things that will mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.”

For more information go to the gallery’s Facebook page — http://www.facebook.com/events/2087880661243577