Photo by Sydney Cromwell.
The Hoover Vet Center offers art classes for veterans and family members as part of its therapy programs.
There’s more than one way to heal the wounds that veterans sometimes bring back with them from their military service.
Some veterans need physical treatments, and others need the help of a therapist for them or for their families. And some, Hoover Vet Center marriage and family therapist Michelle Davidson said, can heal with art.
The Hoover Vet Center, at 400 Emery Drive, offers a number of programs for veterans of any age to help them successfully participate in everyday life. These include counseling and support group services, as well as alternative programs such as weekly art therapy, chair yoga or Guitars For Vets classes.
“Not everyone is going to respond to or find the traditional medical treatments or mental health treatments to be suiting for them,” Davidson said.
Davidson said the art therapy group started around 16 months ago and can accommodate up to 12 veterans every Thursday, though there’s a consistent group of about eight. There have also been one-time specialty classes such as slab pottery.
There is plenty of interest from regular veterans and their family members in art classes, Davidson said, but many of them are beginners and might feel intimidated joining the art therapy “regulars.” This has prompted the Vet Center to look at adding more classes sometime this fall.
“Everyone’s skill level is beyond the basics. So when we have new people who want to come in, how do we address that if we’re going to keep an open studio? Because this group loves the open studio format,” Davidson said. “So we don’t want to change that because that’s a wonderful thing. So what we’d like to do at this point is begin to offer a very basic series of classes.”
Davidson said the Vet Center is looking for teachers and support for classes such as drawing, charcoals, mixing paints, watercolors, acrylic paints, photography and even sculpture. The current art therapy group is supported partly by the Hoover Arts Alliance, which provides supplies for the classes.
She would like to see some of the more artistically talented veterans teach classes as well. If there’s enough interest, Davidson said they may open a second studio time in the future.
Other classes such as pottery wouldn’t be possible at the center due to the limits of the facility, but Davidson said they’d be interested in hosting a class with the help of anyone willing to share pottery equipment and space for a day.
The art therapy group, Davidson said, offers an outlet for veterans to express themselves while also building a skill. It’s a chance to socialize with people who have a common experience, too. They can paint about their military service, other experiences or totally unrelated subjects.
Davidson, a veteran herself, said she is always on hand in the art studio in case a painting or a memory causes strong emotions.
“Sometimes a piece will stir something up,” Davidson said.
“It’s not just about helping them right after they come back. It’s about helping to maintain those improvements and provide ongoing support for the course of their lifetime,” she said. “The art definitely allows an outlet for that.”
Davidson said she hoped to begin the first drawing classes around September, but added there were still several hurdles to clear to get teachers and confirm a schedule of classes.
The Vet Center can be reached at 212-3122 or va.gov/directory/guide/facility.asp?ID=392.