December 21, 2024
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‘Soldier Songs and Voices’ art show comes to University of St. Francis in Joliet

Phoebe Hunt, songwriter and musician: ‘I believe music is a tool for healing on so many levels’

By Denise M. Baran-Unland
Phoebe Hunt performs in Nashville, Tennessee in 2022. Hunt, a national touring musician and professional songwriter, is a longtime mentor at the annual “Reveille Retreat,” which takes place on a ranch in Halletsville, Texas, as part of the nonprofit "Solider Songs and Voices." Hunt will present a special program of “Soldier Songs and Voices” Tuesday night at the University of St. Francis in Joliet.

Phoebe Hunt performs in Nashville, Tennessee in 2022. Hunt, a national touring musician and professional songwriter, is a longtime mentor at the annual Reveille Retreat, which takes place on a ranch in Halletsville, Texas, as part of the nonprofit "Solider Songs and Voices." Hunt will present a special program of “Soldier Songs and Voices” Tuesday night at the University of St. Francis in Joliet. (Photo provided by Tim Placher)

A Joliet-based veteran didn’t have an art bone in his body – until the night he took apart his typewriter and began creating.

Steve Kost, 50, who served in the U.S. Naval Construction Battalions from 1991 to 1995, will participate in a special “Soldier Songs and Voices” – Presented by Phoebe Hunt” event Tuesday evening at the University of St. Francis in Joliet.

The Soldier Songs and Voices nonprofit organization “provides free instruments and songwriting lessons to veterans as a form of post-conflict care,” according to its website.

Kost will display some of his 3D scrap metal art, which he said has has helped him process his post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It [art] has most definitely given me a healthy outlet to concentrate and to calm my facing mind and give my hands something to do.”

—  Steve Kost, veteran and member of The Art Movement in Joliet
Steve Kost, 50, who served in the United States Naval Construction Battalions from 1991 to 1995, will participate in a special “Soldier Songs and Voices” – Presented by Phoebe Hunt” event Tuesday evening at the University of St. Francis in Joliet. Kost will display some of his 3D scrap metal art, which has helped him process his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Steve Kost, 50, who served in the United States Naval Construction Battalions from 1991 to 1995, will participate in a special “Soldier Songs and Voices” – Presented by Phoebe Hunt” event Tuesday evening at the University of St. Francis in Joliet. Kost will display some of his 3D scrap metal art, which has helped him process his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Hunt, a national touring musician and professional songwriter, is a longtime mentor at the annual Reveille Retreat, which takes place on a ranch in Halletsville, Texas, according to Tim Placher of Joliet, who previously organized a songwriters showcase at USF.

At Tuesday’s event, Hunt will share songs created by U.S. combat veterans at the annual Reveille Retreat and at local “Soldier Songs and Voices” chapters across the country, Placher said.

“This is the only Midwest show of this program this spring, so a really unique offering,” Placher said in an email.

Hunt said she also wants to raise awareness of the nonprofit in case someone is interested in starting a local chapter “where veterans are invited to come out and sing their songs.’

“I believe music is a tool for healing on so many levels,” Hunt said. “And to have someone like Tim that you know to really connect the dots and help it all come together is such a beautiful thing.”

Healing power of art

Kost created for The Art Movement’s 2023 Summer of Stone & Steel Art Exhibition at the Joliet Area Historical Museum. Kost’s “Raising Steel” was a 29-inch metal sculpture of the Joliet Central High School mascot and the Jefferson Street bridge.

He was one of the Old Joliet Prison Burnt District Artists that created art from salvaged scrap at the Old Joliet Prison. Kost won the “People’s Choice Award” for the 2019 Veteran’s Art Show at The EXibit Fine Art Center and Gallery and in 2022.

Kost also was one of 35 U.S. veteran artists featured in the Library of Congress’ “From Conflict to Creativity: Veteran Artists Showcase” that showed how these veteran artists used art as therapy for trauma.

“It [art] has most definitely given me a healthy outlet to concentrate and to calm my facing mind and give my hands something to do,” Kost said.

Steve Kost, 50, who served in the United States Naval Construction Battalions from 1991 to 1995, will participate in a special “Soldier Songs and Voices” – Presented by Phoebe Hunt” event Tuesday evening at the University of St. Francis in Joliet. Kost will display some of his 3D scrap metal art, which has helped him process his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Steve Kost, 50, who served in the United States Naval Construction Battalions from 1991 to 1995, will participate in a special “Soldier Songs and Voices” – Presented by Phoebe Hunt” event Tuesday evening at the University of St. Francis in Joliet. Kost will display some of his 3D scrap metal art, which has helped him process his post-traumatic stress disorder. (Photo provided by Ed Kost)

Kost recalled the many nights he paced the floor, unable to sleep because od his PTSD. One night, he was pacing by the typewriter, so he took it apart and began creating with its components.

The work so absorbed Kost that he applied for a $500 grant to buy a welder. From there, he said he embarked on “a great artistic journey.”

Showcasing his art and speaking to other veterans about using art for healing is “one of the most meaningful things I’ve ever done,” Kost said.

“I think the greatest compensation as an artist is to know you had a personal effect by sharing your work,” he said.

Steve Kost, 50, who served in the United States Naval Construction Battalions from 1991 to 1995, will participate in a special “Soldier Songs and Voices” – Presented by Phoebe Hunt” event Tuesday evening at the University of St. Francis in Joliet. Kost will display some of his 3D scrap metal art, which has helped him process his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Steve Kost, 50, who served in the United States Naval Construction Battalions from 1991 to 1995, will participate in a special “Soldier Songs and Voices” – Presented by Phoebe Hunt” event Tuesday evening at the University of St. Francis in Joliet. Kost will display some of his 3D scrap metal art, which has helped him process his post-traumatic stress disorder. (Photo provided by Ed Kost)

Hunt had conducted a workshop with students at Drauden Point Middle School in 2019 when Placher was a choir director and music teacher at the Plainfield school. Hunt’s appearance was part of her nonprofit Fuel Our Fire that uses “music as a tool for transformation,” according to Hunt’s website.

She said her nonprofit work helps her become “a voice for the voiceless” and she praised Placher for inviting her to present this show.

“Tim is so supportive of the projects that I do and he’s always been willing to try new things,” Hunt said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Soldier Songs And Voices – Presented by Phoebe Hunt”

WHEN: 7 p.m. April 16

WHERE: University Of St. Francis, Moser Performing Arts Center’s Sexton Auditorium, 500 Wilcox St., Joliet

TICKETS: $15. USF students free with ID. Purchase at stfrancis.edu/music-at-moser.

INFORMATION: Call 815-740-3367 or visit stfrancis.edu/music-at-moser and soldiersongsandvoices.org.

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