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Visual Legacies: Veteran Art Groups

Visual Legacies: Veteran Art Groups

In service to our community veterans, the Art Station in Fort Worth (a 501(c3) corporation) is pairing up with the Mansfield Commission for the Arts to for a 6 week, arts based community project, designed to help the general public understand what it is like to live as a veteran in our community. Through the use of guided art activities, veteran participants will create a visual legacy that helps describe their process integrating back into the community after serving as part of our military.

This six-week pilot project will be facilitated by a registered, board certified art therapist from the Art Station, who will introduce a series of art interventions to orient participants to materials that they may have not used previous to this experience. No previous art experience is necessary to participate, only a willingness to engage in the process of creative expression. This project is designed to be facilitated as a group of up to 12 people per group, and there are two options to participate- weekly on Wednesdays from 10-11:30am, or weekly on Wednesdays from 1-2:30pm beginning September 8th-October 13, 2021.

After initial instruction on the various art materials and projects available, participants will begin to think about implementation of their final project. This final project will be a reflection of the Visual Legacy that the participant would like to share with the public. The culmination of this project will be a community art show, designed to allow the public to gain insight into the Veterans’ stories by viewing the art show on display at the opening reception, to be scheduled in conjunction with Veterans Day activities held by the Mansfield Commission for the Arts. Participants are not required to participate in the art show, but are encouraged to use this as an opportunity to share with the community some of the experiences they would like to share as a veteran in civilian life through visual imagery that they choose to share their story.

It is the goal of the Art Station and the Mansfield Commission for the Arts that this activity will provide an opportunity for the community to come together to engage with and honor our veterans, and open dialogue about what our veterans go through as they have integrated back into a civilian lifestyle.