Art Works Blog

Arts and Military

a mixed group of people holding masks

A Creative Forces Chairman Update

May 18, 2017
One of the programs that keeps us particularly busy at the National Endowment for the Arts is Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network . This is our partnership with the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs that places creative arts therapies at the core of patient-centered care...
a brown-haired woman with glasses stands behind a podium

Blue Star Museums Art Talk with Kathy Roth-Douquet

May 16, 2017
When Kathy Roth-Douquet, the CEO of Blue Star Families, first approached the NEA about partnering on a program to show appreciation for military families, she expected that the program would take place over one weekend each summer. What she didn’t expect was that the proposed program, Blue Star...
Rendering of service member painting

Creative Forces in Quotes

April 20, 2017
The best way to learn about any program is to hear directly from participants. We’ve included a roundup of quotes below from people who have participated in Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network , either as a patient, therapist, administrator, or researcher. Click on the links to read...
a white woman with long brown hair and glasses

Spotlight on Creative Arts Therapies and Telehealth

March 23, 2017
Jill Sonke is the director of the Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The center advances the field of arts in health through education, research, and outreach. It is also includes a creative arts therapy program that takes veteran’s care in new directions by...
a tabletop laid with 5 different types of masks made in creative arts therapy sessions

Unmasking the Trauma: A Look at Research on Mask Making as a Creative Arts Therapy

February 16, 2017
The masks pictured above have become one of the enduring images of how service members are working with creative arts therapists to heal the unseen wounds of war. To see the masks is to “see” the very real impact of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) and...
ImageofRebeccaVaudreuilandMikeSchneiderinconversation

Music Saved My Life: How Arts Therapy Helped a Master Sergeant Recover from the Wounds of War

January 26, 2017
Two years ago Creative Forces Music Therapist Rebecca Vaudreuil met Master Sergeant Michael Schneider at Walter Reed Medical Center. Newly retired from military service, Schneider was still in treatment for injuries he had suffered during deployment, including traumatic brain injury and PTSD. In...
Male in uniform playing a guitar.

Art Talk with Megan Wong: Songs of Healing

November 10, 2016
Learn how music therapy is bringing healing to military service members and veterans.
The stories we tell ourselves about war are crucial for how we behave as a nation what we accept from our leaders how we treat our veterans. From Phil Klay

Notable Quotable: Phil Klay

November 8, 2016
papier mache masks made in art therapy displayed on a table at a Walter Reed event

From Combat to Community

October 25, 2016
“Recovery happens only in community.” — Jonathan Shay, clinical psychiatrist and author known for his treatment of combat trauma suffered by Vietnam veterans Today, the National Endowment for the Arts unveils an expanded partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense called Creative Forces: NEA...
The entrance of Heard Museum, which has statues of American Indians posted in the front of the building.

Blue Star Museums Spotlight on Heard Museum

August 12, 2016
Learn about Heard Museum which uniquely showcases Native arts and culture.

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