Army vet paints mural for WNC veterans’ center

Western Nevada College accountant Cherrice Dotson was delighted to be able to combine her love of art and the military by personally hand painting a patriotic mural at the entrance to the Veterans Resource Center within the Cedar Building on the campus of Western Nevada College.

The remodeling of the Veterans Resource Center is the project of the Carson City Leadership Institute Class of 2023 and will be finished in time for the ribbon cutting and unveiling ceremony to coincide with Flag Day, June 14, and the graduation of the 14 Leadership students who put their all into collecting donations to fund the refresh. Dotson presented the idea for this project for class consideration and is pleased the class adopted this project that is so close to her heart.

A veteran of the U.S. Army, Dotson served between 1985-88 at Fort Carson, Colo., as a motor vehicle operator ferrying around the company commander. She then served as the wife of a soldier between 1988-98 bearing four “Army brats” – two boys and two girls. She states, “I joined the Army to be able to get a college education through the G.I. Bill because my parents couldn’t afford to send me through college.”

At the time, the G.I. Bill expired after 10 years and with all the forced military moves and being a full-time homemaker, Dotson missed her chance for the “free” education. When the family moved to Carson City, she enrolled at Western Nevada in 2012 earning her AA in accounting and another in business. She later earned her BA in accounting at the University of Nevada, Reno, spending a total of 11 years in school which she feels had been a worthwhile journey even as a single mother. Today she has a great and stable career because of her commitment to getting her degrees.

She is proud to be an Army veteran and understands the way veterans “need to feel a sense of belonging and the need to be around other veterans who understand the language of the military,” she said.

A call was put out to the WNC art students to paint a mural at the entrance to the center and when no student was forthcoming, Dotson bought latex interior paint and decided to paint the mural herself. She felt she could do it since she has been drawing since she was in elementary school, though she has never painted anything this large, which took 34 hours. Most of her art has been given as gifts, and this gift she proudly donates to the veterans who will find refuge within the center.

The 14 Leadership students collectively raised $11,400 in cash with in-kind donations of $17,421. Add to that the NV Energy donation of $15,000. They used local merchants to buy the products needed.

The public is invited to attend the ribbon cutting and unveiling of the newly remodeled WNC Veterans Resource Center within the Cedar Building located at the south end of the campus on Wednesday, June 14 at 4:30 p.m.