WASHINGTON – One of the premier PBS television stations in the nation has agreed to broadcast the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival stage show of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Veterans Day. WETA/Washington is scheduled to air the 60-minute special on Saturday, November 11.
“We’re thrilled that Washington area viewers can see first-hand the remarkable artistic work of our nation’s talented veterans and the therapeutic value of the arts in health care,” said the Honorable R. James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. “WETA’s decision to broadcast the show is a real testament to the determination of these veterans, many of whom have overcome injuries to become first-rate artists and entertainers.”
More than 120 medal-winning veterans will participate in the Festival, which is the culmination of a year-long fine arts talent competition involving more than 2,800 veterans receiving VA health care. The Festival is presented by VA, Help Hospitalized Veterans and the American Legion Auxiliary.
“This Veterans Day broadcast is a fitting way to recognize and honor the thousands of veterans and military personnel who live in the Washington area,” said Kevin Harris WETA Vice President and Station Manager. “We’re proud to be part of this salute to those who have served.”
WETA has been a pioneer in public television, beginning with the production and broadcast of educational television programs for children in the 1950s and early 1960s, to the creation of Washington Week in Review and the production of Emmy Award-winning documentaries by filmmaker Ken Burns.
The hour-long broadcast of the Creative Arts Festival, which is being held this year in Rapid City, S. D., is being co-produced by South Dakota Public Broadcasting and will be distributed nationally by the National Educational Telecommunications Association.
