Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Pisano.
Hi Joe, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
i started creating art at a very young age, but it wasn’t until 2018. When I decided to draw the american flag to include in my portfolio. I went around san diego, photographing the american flag and posted it on my facebook page. I asked my friends and family to pick the best image and my son joey, just pick the best image. I then went on to YouTube and literally typed in 3D. R techniques in which I came across artist sculpture named andrew myers working with drywall screws. With his medium and technique, and my image, I thought that would be a great marriage, and so two thousand eighteen I created my first three d screw art of an american flag to include a white frame.
The intention of a white frame was to allow my veterans to sign the frame. So what started out to be the american flag and about forty three hundred drywall, screws and a white frame with approximately a hundred and twenty Veteran Signatures. The signatures range from an E-1( seamen recruit/ private) to an 0-10( four star ADMIRAL), all branches of service, including 2M. W. Ds military working dogs- esmeralda, a belgium, malamoir, and cross eye jimmy, a german shepherd. So in two thousand eighteen, with approximately hundred and twenty Veteran signatures it has grown in two thousand twenty five with five frames and over twenty five hundred Veteran signatures. The title of my first drywall screw art piece, is called Stand Together- A Veterans Flag.
Since 2018 I have become an award winning artist and nationwide, renowned artist. I had a vision of the Stand Together Flag in 2018 to grow into what it now has now become in 2023, a nationwide recognized Art Piece. Not only a recognizeable Art Piece, but a Nationwide Veteran Suicide Awareness and Prevention. Partnered with Resurrecting Live Foundation, the suicide awareness and prevention campaign has a goal of having at least one Screw Art Flag created for each state with the mission to help reduce the suicide rate of our Veterans through Art Therapy. The Vision includes creating a platform for discussion and conversation and connecting the military, both active duty and veterans with the community. Currently, there are 5 states- California, Ohio, Hawai’i, Alaska and now Missouri- that now have the Veterans Standing Together. Across America Flag withPennsylvania is next in queue as Number Six.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This is actually a difficult question to answer. Because the road has not been smooth. It’s been very challenging. At one of my art exhibits, I had several people inquire about my artwork, only to find out that I have been creating art in parks and parking lots throughout san diego. They acknowledged that I needed my own studio to create art. Upon meeting the founder for Resurrecting Life Foundation, Dr Gordon, M.D., former E.R. doctor turn T.B.I. specialist also acknowledged that I needed a studio. In 2021, I finally moved into an art studio in the Liberty Station’s Art District, San Diego. I was featured at Dr. Gordon’s premier showing of a short narrative film entitled “Brainstorms”, a movie about a Veteran struggling with a traumatic brain injury, T.B.I., from the inside, looking out. Her guest speaker, Julie Pacino, had to cancel her appearance, so I was invited to do two things- showcase my Art- “Invisibilia”- (a Homeless Veteran) and “OPERATION ZERO”- (suicide awareness) and then speak about the art and inspiration. As a Homeless Veteran with an unstable living situation, the Struggle is real and constant/current.
it’s not a matter of whether my art separates myself from others. It’s more of an effort to join and connect people, whether artist, or the community, our veterans, our service members, and realize that we’re all in this together. Often fighting the same battles, struggling with the same issues (some more intense than others.) But having a common ground to start a dialogue, a conversation of solutions to very difficult questions. I am not here to set us ‘apart’ but to ‘set us together’.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Currently, I am known for my military-themed artwork to include tributes, memorials and honoring our Veterans and Servicemembers of the U. S. Armed Forces. My most recent unveil was for a Piece called The Guardian- Wings of Sacrifice that was featured on Veterans Day, 2024 at Mt. Soledad National Memorial. The art piece is six feet wide by eight feet tall, an image of the Battlefield Cross- created with over six thousand drywall screws- screws installed by Veterans, Active Duty and the community of San Diego. The background is created with over twenty five hundred Dog Tags, the Wings in the background, made up of approximately fifteen hundred dog tags with eleven simulated bullet holes on each Wing; eleven simulated bullet holes on each wing, eleven-eleven, symbolizing Armatis Day and eleven eleven together, twenty two, representing the twenty two daily Veteran suicides. The over one thousand blank Dog Tags around the wings, invite veterans to pick a Dog Tag and have their names embossed on it. The Field of Poppies, sit below the image, and is created with over 5000 bottle caps turned Poppies. The goal is to have the Field of Poppies cascade onto the floor with over a quarter million bottle caps turn Poppies replicating Flanders Field. The backside of the art piece has a four by six foot Flag that was burned onto the panels by a fellow navy Chief, Heather DeMarco. The reverse side with the four by six Flag invites any Active Duty military/Reserves to sign. Veterans, active duty military and the community nationwide have actually participated in helping create this art piece.
I am also currently working on the Pennsylvania VSTAA Flag for unveiling in late September 2025. For the 250th Birthday of America, i am slated to recreate the Statue of Liberty in Screws, approx 15-20 feet tall. My Autism Awareness Piece is also an ongoing Art Project bringing the Autism, Special Needs as community together.
When it comes to my artwork, the thing i’m most proud of are the lives that have been affected by it. My art is more than just looking at a ‘painting or a drawing’, but it is an actual experience that once a person sees it and get it’s to hear the stories, they become changed. And to those who have it helped create the art, it has changed them in a positive way, from being in a very struggling depressive state to an inspired motivated individual; and for any of our veterans and service members who have experienced the art, whether by viewing it or being a part of creating it, going from a very dark, struggling place in their head/life to finding a way to stay around just a little bit longer and fight the struggles/the challenges of suicide ideations and depression. The transformation is the most rewarding.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Recently, in my life, I’ve been guided to notice the signs in life that navigate towards things positive or to avoid things are that are negative. I just realized that if you take notice to the different signs that come into your life, whether it be just finding a penny on the ground or randomly, meeting a person in striking conversation. These little things, whether on purpose or on accidental, have a way of determining unseen potential. It’s not just a matter of good luck and bad luck; you also have to have the internal drive inspiration to create and what kind of message or interpretation you want your audience to receive. My Art has been recognized as healing, providing hope, providing history and above all, providing Honor to our Uniformed personnel, especially our Veterans.
Pricing:
- Prints- $50-$200
- Canvas- $150-$500 (size contingent)
- Originals- for discussion
- Commissions- for discusdion
Contact Info:
- Website: https://veteransstandingtogetheracrossamerica.org
- Instagram: gojoenavy1999
- Facebook: Joe Pisano
Image Credits
Photos by Joe Pisano
