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By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 12:16 p.m. EST, Nov 05, 2009
Dustin Grella has a perspective on the sacrifices American service members have made at war that most Americans will never know.
He lost his brother in Iraq five years ago.
Grella, 40, has made an eight-minute animated film about the death of Army Pfc. Devin Grella of Medina Township, who was killed in a roadside bombing as he was serving with the Army Reserve's 706th Transportation Company on Sept. 6, 2004.
The film, Prayers for Peace, will be shown in the Akron Art Museum's Jerry and Patsy Shaw Video Box through Feb. 14, 2010.
''The numbers you hear on the news every night that two died, five died, 17 died in Iraq or Afghanistan, those aren't just numbers,'' said Grella, who lives and works as an animator in New York City.
''Those are real people. They are somebody's mom. Somebody's husband. Somebody's brother.''
Grella said he was inspired to make the film as he passed a church, the Marble Collegiate Church, once pastored by Norman Vincent Peale on Fifth Avenue in New York City, and saw thousands of yellow ribbons hanging on a wrought iron fence that was inscribed with the words Prayers for Peace.
Upon further examination, he discovered the ribbons represented soldiers who had died.
Grella, who received his undergraduate degree from the University of Akron Myers School of Art and his master's degree from The School of Visual Arts in New York City, began to look for his brother's ribbon and quickly found it.
Devin Grella was an Eagle Scout and graduate of Medina High School. He was 21 when he was killed.
Dustin Grella's video is a stop-motion animation that was hand-drawn with pastels on a slate chalkboard. The animation was created by drawing the current image on top of the previous image.
Barbara Tannenbaum, director of curatorial affairs at the Akron Art Museum, said the method Grella used to make the film — making an image, then erasing it partially to make the next image — is ''a wonderful metaphor about his brother's death and the ephemerality of life.''
Grella, she said, ''is an incredibly talented draftsman'' and his work shows emotion and restraint.
The animator vividly recalls the community outpouring in Medina after his brother's death.
Several hundred people lined the square in Medina in silence to watch as Devin Grella's funeral procession passed on a sunny September day.
Dustin Grella remembers one scene in particular.
''There was a guy standing on top of his tractor,'' he said. ''His wife was standing there with their kids in front of the tractor and he was on top of it holding a flag as high as he could hold it.''
That moment, he said, ''was really one of those things you can't even describe. In hindsight, I can't believe I got to see it with my own eyes.''
Grella said his brother's death led him to ''jump-start'' his animation career. A major lesson he learned, he said, was ''life is too short to waste.''
But, he said, at the same time, the loss has been a blessing in some ways.
''I've gained a lot from it,'' Grella said. ''Every day is a special day.''
During Veterans Day week from Sunday through Nov. 14, all veterans and current active duty military personnel will be given free admission to the museum.
For more on the art museum, go to its Web site at http://www.akronartmuseum.org.
For more on Dustin Grella, go to his Web Site, http://dustingrella.com.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.
Prayers for Peace trailer
Dustin Grella has a perspective on the sacrifices American service members have made at war that most Americans will never know.
He lost his brother in Iraq five years ago.
Grella, 40, has made an eight-minute animated film about the death of Army Pfc. Devin Grella of Medina Township, who was killed in a roadside bombing as he was serving with the Army Reserve's 706th Transportation Company on Sept. 6, 2004.
The film, Prayers for Peace, will be shown in the Akron Art Museum's Jerry and Patsy Shaw Video Box through Feb. 14, 2010.
''The numbers you hear on the news every night that two died, five died, 17 died in Iraq or Afghanistan, those aren't just numbers,'' said Grella, who lives and works as an animator in New York City.
''Those are real people. They are somebody's mom. Somebody's husband. Somebody's brother.''
Grella said he was inspired to make the film as he passed a church, the Marble Collegiate Church, once pastored by Norman Vincent Peale on Fifth Avenue in New York City, and saw thousands of yellow ribbons hanging on a wrought iron fence that was inscribed with the words Prayers for Peace.
Upon further examination, he discovered the ribbons represented soldiers who had died.
Grella, who received his undergraduate degree from the University of Akron Myers School of Art and his master's degree from The School of Visual Arts in New York City, began to look for his brother's ribbon and quickly found it.
Devin Grella was an Eagle Scout and graduate of Medina High School. He was 21 when he was killed.
Dustin Grella's video is a stop-motion animation that was hand-drawn with pastels on a slate chalkboard. The animation was created by drawing the current image on top of the previous image.
Barbara Tannenbaum, director of curatorial affairs at the Akron Art Museum, said the method Grella used to make the film — making an image, then erasing it partially to make the next image — is ''a wonderful metaphor about his brother's death and the ephemerality of life.''
Grella, she said, ''is an incredibly talented draftsman'' and his work shows emotion and restraint.
The animator vividly recalls the community outpouring in Medina after his brother's death.
Several hundred people lined the square in Medina in silence to watch as Devin Grella's funeral procession passed on a sunny September day.
Dustin Grella remembers one scene in particular.
''There was a guy standing on top of his tractor,'' he said. ''His wife was standing there with their kids in front of the tractor and he was on top of it holding a flag as high as he could hold it.''
That moment, he said, ''was really one of those things you can't even describe. In hindsight, I can't believe I got to see it with my own eyes.''
Grella said his brother's death led him to ''jump-start'' his animation career. A major lesson he learned, he said, was ''life is too short to waste.''
But, he said, at the same time, the loss has been a blessing in some ways.
''I've gained a lot from it,'' Grella said. ''Every day is a special day.''
During Veterans Day week from Sunday through Nov. 14, all veterans and current active duty military personnel will be given free admission to the museum.
For more on the art museum, go to its Web site at http://www.akronartmuseum.org.
For more on Dustin Grella, go to his Web Site, http://dustingrella.com.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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Tallmadge, OH
Posted 12:32 PM, 11/05/2009
Thank you Mr. Grella and the Akron Museum of Art for the opportunity to view this film. I will make it a point to see your work.
Akron, OH
Posted 04:45 PM, 11/05/2009
Dustin Grella is a fine an artist as this area has ever produced.
akron, oh
Posted 08:43 PM, 11/05/2009
thats pretty awesome Dustin!
N. Canton, Oh
Posted 06:45 AM, 11/06/2009
Very awesome!!
Posted 12:03 AM, 11/07/2009
Very well done sir. Good on the Akron Art Museum for the free to veterans thing.
