The Oceanside Library unveiled 40 new canvases on Nov. 9 to add to its Veterans Wall honoring local war veterans, nearly doubling the number of tributes previously displayed and marking the latest expansion of a project that began almost a decade ago.
The Veterans Wall, on exhibition in the library’s recently renovated building, features portraits of Ocean-side service members, accompanied by their name, branch of service and the years they served or the war in which they fought. The sturdier display replaces a series of foam boards with durable canvases that should last for years to come.
“Especially with our new building, we wanted to dedicate this space to the veterans,” Stephanie Rizza, the library’s marketing specialist, said.
Rizza led the effort to update and expand the tribute after the library’s assistant director, Tony Iovino, retired.
“The families were really grateful,” Rizza said. “Everyone was excited and very proud that the library even wanted to do something like this.”
Rizza said the library received submissions for more than 40 new veterans this fall and plans another round of collections early next year to ensure the wall continues to grow.
Iovino, who is now the library’s special projects coordinator, created the Veterans Wall nearly 10 years ago as a tribute to his father, Harry, a Navy veteran.
At the time, Iovino was expanding programming and community outreach and decided to engage Oceanside’s veterans by organizing annual Veterans Day events that included concerts and speakers on veterans’ rights.
The community’s positive response, he said, sparked the idea to collect photographs and service information from local families.
The annual concerts were discontinued during the pandemic, and later the library’s construction limited in-person events. Still, staff continued adding veterans to the wall on foam boards during that period, but Iovino said the long-term goal was to create something more durable.
“We wanted something permanent,” he said. “It was very interesting to honor them and see how many people served, the different branches of service and their connections to Oceanside.”
Iovino’s connection to the project is also personal — his father served in the Navy’s submarine corps during the Korean War, tracking Soviet vessels from underwater diesel submarines.
Both Rizza and Iovino noted that the community’s response to the new canvases has been overwhelmingly positive.
“It’s been very well received,” Iovino said. “The library considers ourselves to be the last bastion of defense for the First Amendment. We’re in that battle every day. We know that the First Amendment only exists because of the service of our military. We take our responsibility to remember them and honor them very seriously.”
