“Nose Art” Talk and Workshop at March Field Air Museum

On Saturday July 5th, artist Jerri Bergen “Victory Girl” will present a talk and workshop on the history of painting symbols on the nose of aircraft. The talk will last one hour and be followed by a one hour workshop where participants will learn how to design their own “Nose Art”. It was her love of history that started Jerri painting in this art form in 2007. Her family life (disabled daughter and parents) required her to stay close to home, so she started her new hobby in a hangar. She has painted more than 25 aircraft, from as far away as Texas and Oregon and has provided custom vinyl nose art designs for 150 aircraft and vehicles all over the world, including the Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Australia, Singapore and the UK. One of her most special pieces is the nose art on her OY. She got her family involved in research that uncovered an amazing history of that aircraft, and the VM04 squadron’s combat time on Iwo Jima during WWII. “Although the origin of nose art probably traces itself back to ancient times when imagery was painted on chariots to distinguish them from one another, it comes to us in modern form because of recent wars. Proud aircraft crew members thought of ways to distinguish their aircraft from identical ones many rolling off assembly lines. Their ideas came from wives, calendars, girlfriends and even Disney characters,” says museum director Patricia Korzec. The talk and workshop are free with museum admission. The event begins at 1 p.m. The “Saturday Summer Briefing” program is sponsored by Renaissance Village in Moreno Valley.