‘Paintfest’ at city park to be tribute to vets

The Foundation for Hospital Art will sponsor a local “paintfest” to honor veterans from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at Centennial Olympic Park.

During the day, volunteers will paint a six-panel canvas mural depicting the American eagle. The mural will be donated to the Atlanta VA Medical Center on Clairmont Avenue.

Similar events will be held in other cities across the nation on Saturday and in the next few weeks. The centerpiece of the “Great American PaintFest” combines the work of U.S. servicemen in Iraq and volunteers in Washington, D.C.

Canvases painted in Baghdad will be added to 34 others painted at the VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. The Roswell-based Foundation for Hospital Art was formed in 1984 by John Feight as a way to make people’s hospital experience less traumatic through art. Hospitals in 192 nations have received murals through the foundation.