Adriane Franks.
Former Haines resident, Air Force veteran and Skagway Postmaster Adriane Franks is one of 50 service members depicted in an October art exhibit that features veterans from all 50 states.
Charleston, South Carolina watercolor painter Mary Whyte spent seven years touring the country, finding and interviewing veterans from each state and then painting them for her project she titled “We the People.”
“I did it almost entirely in secret,” Whyte said of her search for veterans. “One reason is that I wanted to make sure I completed it before I announced it. If you have an idea you hope is fresh and original you want to keep it under wraps.”
She had to get creative about how she funded her project. She made her way to Alaska the way many tourists do, with a slight twist.
“I figured one of the ways I could get to Alaska would be if a conducted a (painting) workshop on a cruise ship,” Whyte said.
Before arriving in Skagway, she called the Skagway Chamber of Commerce and various businesses asking about local veterans. After learning about Franks, she made a trip to the post office upon her landing in Skagway.
“I spent a few hours with her, trailing her around the post office and asking her about her service,” Whyte said after surprising her at the post office.
“She had me pose. She sketched me at the post office which was really embarrassing. Tons of people were watching the whole thing,” Franks said. “I didn’t hear from her again for a long time. My mom found my portrait, a picture of me on the Internet. I was like ‘what!?'”
Franks served in Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield in the Air Force from 1989 to 1993.
The series of paintings debuted in October, and are currently on display at the City Gallery in Charleston. The paintings feature a diverse group of veterans from different military branches, and demographic backgrounds including a homeless man, street musicians who met and married while serving and a former U.S. Special Forces soldier turned fireman.
Franks was invited to the exhibit opening in Charleston in October where she met the other service members.
“I sat next to an astronaut. He retired from NASA,” Franks said. “It was kind of surreal. I feel grateful for being a part of it,” Franks said. I got to meet a lot of good people. We all had a common factor and that we are a part of this really great thing.”
Whyte said despite the veterans’ differences, they shared one thing in common. “They set aside their plans to serve their country and were asked to do things that were not in their self-interest for the interest of all the rest of us and the ideals we hold.”
The paintings are available to view in Whyte’s book “We the People,” which is available for purchase online.