Photographers’ Works Bring New Life To Eastern Veterans Home Hallways
A newly renovated wing of the Eastern Montana Veterans Home just received another upgrade with large, canvas photos taken by a pair of local photographers now gracing the hallways, a project brought to completion just in time for Veterans Day.
“The pictures are amazing,” said EMVH Foundation board member Gary Kirkpatrick, whose father formerly lived at the facility.
The photographers for the project were Clint Whitmer, himself a veteran and EMVH resident, and Kristi Powell, a well-known and accomplished local professional photographer. The project included a group of local businesses contributing towards its completion, including Enchanted Room and its owner Lisa Kelly, who Powell credited with “doing the legwork,” to design and complete the project, and Gibbs Graphix, which printed the large canvas photographs for hanging.
Whitmer, who has been an EMVH resident for three and a half years, is a former U.S. Army combat medic who served in Vietnam for a year during 1968-69. He was ultimately discharged from the Army on 100 percent disability due to exposure to Agent Orange and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
A native of Vida, Whitmer, now 80, inherited his father’s well-drilling business, which he ran for years, including several years spent working drilling water wells across the Middle East. He earned a bachelor’s degree in geology at the University of Montana and went on to achieve a master’s degree in science teaching. He taught science in the Bozeman area for many years.
But photography has been a part of Whitmer’s life for longer than just about anything. He said he began actively taking photos while on duty in Vietnam. As a young man from the windswept prairies of the Montana Hi-Line, Vietnam, with its lush, green jungle and ancient and very different culture, drew the young Whitmer’s eye, and he began taking pictures to document the very different people and places he encountered. He said documenting different cultures in particular is what drew him to photography, from the jungles of Vietnam to the deserts of the Middle East. Since 2010, Whitmer, who has deep family ties in Wolf Point, has primarily focused his camera lens on Native American culture.
“All drew me to document this reality,” Whitmer said. “Photography is art.”
Chuck Wilder, a close friend of Whtimer’s for over 15 years and owner of Books on Broadway in Williston, N.D., said his friend is very serious about his craft and an excellent photographer who never shies from trying something new.
“He’s a very good photographer,” Wilder said. “I think his photo work is really good, and he’s always trying new techniques.”
Whitmer said his involvement with the now-completed photo project began when he started showing his work to Christy Kemp, the Montana Department of Health and Human Services’ state liaison at EMVH. He said that led to him enlarging and framing several pictures which were already hanging in EMVH when Kemp approached him about adding more for the newly renovated wing. Whitmer said Kemp picked out four of his pictures to include in the project.
Powell said for her the project began a year ago when she was approached by Kemp. Hanging the large canvas photos in the hallways would serve two purposes. First they would brighten up and add beauty to the facility. And second they would help serve as waypoints for residents to better navigate their way around the hallways and to their rooms and common spaces.
Powell said Kemp, who could not be reached for comment, asked her if she would provide photos and help design the layout of the project. Powell agreed to provide the photos, but was uncomfortable designing the project, which led her to involve Kelly. “I am not an interior design person, so I told (Kemp) to check with Lisa at Enchanted Room,” Powell said. “I did the pictures and Lisa did the legwork on everything.”
Powell said she provided Kemp and Kelly with several options for photos, and that it “is my understanding that the residents helped pick out some of the photos.” Ultimately, between Whitmer’s and Powell’s photos, over a dozen new large canvas photos now grace the hallways.
For Powell, having her work displayed at the EMVH for its residents — for veterans — to enjoy, is very meaningful and stirs strong emotions. Though he was never an EMVH resident, Powell said her stepfather, who she described as “one of my real heroes,” was a World War II combat veteran who also had a brother and a cousin who died in service in the infamous Bataan Death March. To her, having her photos hanging now in the EMVH is a way to honor the service and sacrifice of her stepfather and his family.
“I think he would have been really proud of it,” Powell said as she choked back tears. “To be able to honor him in some way and to help create a beautiful atmosphere for the residents there to enjoy, it does mean a lot to me.”
Whitmer said that it “is an honor” to have his photos included in the completed project where his fellow veterans and EMVH residents can enjoy them. He said he is particularly honored to see his 1980 portrait of President Jimmy Carter and his photo of the Eastern Montana Veterans Memorial at Fort Peck included in the new display.
And he is both honored and happy to see the project completed just in time to mark this year’s Veterans Day.
“Veterans Day is special, and I am honored to be able to be included in celebrating this day,” Whitmer said.
