Marc Poole, fine arts instructor at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Jackson County Campus, has been honored with the acceptance of his work in the ASAA 2019 International Aerospace Art Exhibition at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio. Poole, an artist member of the American Society of Aviation Artists, was one of 40 artists from around the world whose work was selected from nearly 100 entries. The display opens May 6 and runs through October 31. 

“I’m honored to have been included in this year’s exhibit, especially since the venue is the U.S.Air Force Museum,” Poole said. “As an artist and historian, I take the challenge of visual storytelling very seriously. I don’t wish to reinvent or contrive any aspect of what I do, and instead try to find a way to creatively visualize the stories I tell based on first-hand accounts, research, and my own actual experiences. To be entrusted with someone else’s experience brings a high degree of responsibility for me to get it right, particularly when I am documenting these events for posterity.”

One of the paintings accepted was a piece commissioned by the National Museum of the Marine Corps last year, titled “Black Sheep Over Baghdad.” It depicts an AV-8B Harrier II of Marine Attack Squadron 214 on a mission over Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Poole was able to correspond with the pilot, Tyler Bardo, on specific details of the mission. The National Museum of the Marine Corps is loaning the painting to the Air Force Museum for the six-month duration of the exhibition. Another painting accepted was the piece “Dauntless Sunrise,” which Poole painted on-site at the National WWII Museum’s annual Air, Sea and Land Expo held at New Orleans’ Lakefront Airport. Poole had painted at the event at the invitation of the museum for the last four years. 

The ASAA will also be holding a separate, joint retrospective exhibition, and Poole was invited to exhibit his painting “Squawkin Hawk Departing Thorpe Abbotts,” which depicts a WWII B-17 Flying Fortress departing from its airfield in England for an early-morning mission. The painting was commissioned by the family of a WWII veteran who was an original crew member of the plane. A limited-edition run of 100 signed and numbered prints were made of the painting, and proceeds from the sales benefit the 100th Bomb Group, to which the plane was originally assigned during the war. Poole’s painting won Boeing’s Spirit of Flight Award at the 2018 ASAA Exhibition in Palm Springs, California. 

Poole was also invited to be one of the forum presenters and will host a workshop on plein air painting. Other presenters will be Priscilla Patterson, law enforcement composite artist and aviation artist; Paul Glenshaw, filmmaker and art instructor for the Smithsonian Institution; and Gil Cohen, an internationally renowned artist.

The American Society of Aviation Artists was formed in 1986 to bring together, in one professional body, artists who are acknowledged leaders in the field for the purpose of recognizing and promoting interest in aviation art as a fine art form. Artist members are selected by a group of their peers based on their demonstrated abilities and experience. Membership currently numbers more than 200 artists and associate members representing all corners of the United States. Foreign affiliates are also welcomed, with members hailing from a number of countries around the globe. Poole has been an ASAA member since 1992 and an artist member since 2001.

The ASAA holds annual forums, which cover a variety of subjects and valuable information for artists, collectors and aviation enthusiasts alike. This year’s Forum opens its week-long program in Dayton on May 6.