Barry Crossman Art
This is a collection of public work I have done, projects and displays that have been and are currently in the public eye. Some of these works have faded out over time from weather, or have been replaced as new units have moved into the areas where they were completed and had new ideas for the space.
Toma Mi Corozone -- An auction of wooden hearts decorated by many local artists. The proceeds from this annual event go to fund a non - profit organization called Avance. The mission of AVANCE - El Paso is to help young families break the cycle of poverty through early childhood development, parenting, adult literacy and healthy marriages. We serve over 3,000 parents and children annually at fourteen schools across El Paso county and two sites in southern Doña Ana County, New Mexico. We are governed by a local Board of Directors and funded by public and private grants, contributions, and the United Way. These are hearts from my second year participating in the event. The paintings on the left went into a heart that I put a clay "stucco" facade on with two windows on top and a wooden door like an adobe building. The smaller paintings went behind glass in the windows and the larger was in the open door on the bottom.
This is a gym on post that once was in the stewardship of the 11th ADA Brigade. During this time, I was called upon to paint a collage painting of sorts there. I worked with a fellow soldier and friend on the project, who did some of the paintings as well. We worked for nearly six months on a hydraulic lift, at night when the gym was closed. To the right is the final product. the painting on the far right of the row just above this paragraph is that of two scrolls, one bearing the NCO Creed and one bearing the Soldier's Creed. Each enlisted rank in the army is depicted, and to finish the white space at the bottom we painted a scene which had a soldier from every major war era in our Army's history. That painting remains there, but the main wall with the Air Defense Artillery collage has been covered with white paint, as the gym was given over to a Cavalry unit. The ironic thing is that had the original idea with the M1A1 Abrams tank had been allowed to stay, My bet is that the Cav unit who inherited the gym from us might have kept the painting.
This is a concrete barrier that first existed on PAT site 4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where my battery spent our rotation before moving to our forward position at the start of Enduring Freedom. There were several of these which lined the road onto our site, each unit before us painted them in different ways, with their respective mascots. We were the last American Patriot Unit to occupy that location, and as we turned it over to the Saudi Air Force we took our barrier with us. When we returned to American soil we brought it with us a second time. It originally was painted by another soldier, and had a big red bull on it as that was our mascot at the time in Bravo 3-43. It had been back at Ft. Bliss in the 3-43 motorpool for some time when the sergeant major decided he wanted it re-painted and placed in the desert along the main route all the units take to their field positions during exercises. The far left is merely a quick sketch I presented to him when he approached me with the idea, and it went from there. The location you see in these pictures was not where he wanted it, this being a mis-communication between him and the truck driver. It was moved the very next day to the location he desired, where it stood for a few years before the sun and weather finally did it in. The Barrier itself still remains in that location to this day, but the painting is long faded and chipped away completely.
These were mascot ideas I did for HHB 3-43 "Headhunters" in late 2005 when the battery adopted that motto/mascot. The battery took a vote on several ideas presented by other soldiers with a propensity for art, and my knight idea was clearly the winner. However, the commander didn't care for the design, as he already had an idea of a grim reaper type of individual. The 1sgt's nickname was "Punisher," so the punisher skull symbol worked into the grim reaper persona is the result you see on the left. Shortly after I created this, the commander had my image copied and put on door signs all around the barracks and office space. A few months later, I was transferred to 1-44 AMD after they stood back up after many years of de-activation. I went to Korea with 1-44 there after, and returned to 3-43 upon my homecoming to Ft. Bliss when 1-44 moved on to Ft. Hood in December of 2008. Much to my surprise, the unit was still using my image of the grim reaper for it's mascot. About mid-way through 2009 the image was finally changed to a more modern, air brush depiction which was most likely found on the internet, but none-the-less is still the grim reaper.
This is a scaled down version of a Patriot missile canister I created. It was done by request of the 3-43 ADA Battalion commander. He wanted it as a representation of 3-43 in the Officer's club. His requests for this project were specific, as he wanted it to be precise and also elevate to the same degree that real Patriot launching stations do. It was to have hooks inside where the Officers would house their steins used during various functions. Thus, the end product you see here. However, I made it so that not only does it elevate but also the side panel is hinged for raising and easy removal and storage of the officer's steins. It is approximately 8 feet in length and although it can be lifted by one person it is extremely awkward and surprisingly heavy. It still exists today and has been moved to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma at the officers club being set up there for Air Defense.
One day a sergeant major who was attending the Sergeant's Major Academy on Biggs Army Airfield contacted me about doing a collage similar to the one in the gym in the academy's Air Defense Artillery classroom. He explained to me that he had seen my project in progress at the gym (see above) and wanted a similar painting as a gift from class 56 to the academy. The person who helped me with the gym wall paintings also assisted me with this project, which we worked on during weekends and in between my classes at UTEP. He painted the ribbons, ranks, adn the ADA crest on the top center. We did this simultaneously with the gym project. Even though his particular project was on my own time and left me a bit overworked, it was well worth it. I recieved an enormous coin (a form of military appreciation) from class 56 as a thank you for my efforts on this project. To my knowledge, this mural still exists there today.