What is The Silent Muster Project
The Silent Muster Project is a live endurance painting honoring the lives of U.S. service members lost to suicide and the invisible wounds of war.
Each short painted mark represents one life.
The marks are created continuously, by hand, in sustained sessions of physical repetition. Over time, they accumulate into dense fields of presence – a visual muster formation where no one is missing, overlooked, or unnamed.
It is not a symbol.
It is a count.
It is a witness.
Why This Project Exists
Veteran suicide is often discussed in statistics. Numbers are necessary, but numbers are abstract. They can distance us from the human weight behind them.
The Silent Muster Project returns each loss to the scale of a human life.
Every mark is deliberate.
Every mark takes time.
Every mark requires the body.
The repetition mirrors the quiet endurance many veterans carry long after service ends. The accumulation reflects the scale of loss our communities continue to bear.
This work exists to remember, to acknowledge, and to stand present with what cannot be easily spoken.
What Happens
During live painting sessions, the artist creates marks continuously over extended periods. Viewers may witness the process in real time and experience the growing field of marks as it forms.
Each completed work becomes a record of lives acknowledged – a silent formation rendered through labor, duration, and presence.
Proceeds from associated works and events support veteran mental health organizations, including the PTSD Foundation of America and Camp Hope.
When and Where
The Silent Muster Project is presented through live endurance painting events, exhibitions, and installations across communities.
Sessions may occur in galleries, public spaces, veteran centers, and partner organizations connected to military and mental health support.
Upcoming sessions and locations are announced through Slaughter Fine Art and partner organizations.
The Artist’s Military Service
The Silent Muster Project is created by U.S. Air Force veteran Tra’ Slaughter.
From 1994 to 1997, Slaughter served as an A1C Aerospace Ground Equipment (AGE) mechanic assigned to E-3 AWACS aircraft. His duty stations included Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and deployment operations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Prince Sultan Air Base region).
AGE mechanics maintain the critical ground systems that allow aircraft to launch, recover, and operate safely. The role requires precision, reliability, and sustained readiness under operational pressure. The work is often unseen but essential – a quiet backbone of mission capability.
This experience of structured endurance, mechanical repetition, and collective responsibility informs the physical language of The Silent Muster Project.
