Gregory Van Maanen Education Resources

Gregory Van Maanen was born in 1947 in Paterson, New Jersey. He received a Purple Heart after serving in the Vietnam War between June 1968 and January 1970. His art making offered an escape from his upsetting memories from the war. He described it as “self-preservation sometimes shared with others.”

Van Maanen believes in the healing power of art for veterans and nonveterans. Today, his body of work includes several thousand paintings, drawings, sculptures, and found objects featuring skulls, allseeing eyes, open palms, glowing hearts, and a range of personalized symbols of protection and “good magic.” Van Maanen continues to create art and resides in upstate New York. His work has been widely shown in group exhibitions and is in several permanent collections.