“Flashbacks” by Gene Kain

Prairie member Gene Kain is the creator of Prairie’s current art installation. Horrific images of war in the Ukraine rekindled his childhood memories of World War II. By the age of twelve he had progressed through the stages of being a war child, a refugee, and a displaced person to that of an immigrant. The pastel drawings displayed in the meeting hall, created in 1988-89, were sparked by memories of those times and later. In his presentation, he will discuss how making art has helped him to cope with trauma, loss, fear, anxiety and emotional stress.