REDRAW YOUR WEAPONS
A conversation with veterans through art, music, spoken word, performance, poetry and storytelling.
VIDEO: Recording of Zoom event begins at 12 minutes in, after the spiritual focus.
Click here to watch from the beginning from YouTube. ReDraw Your Weapons: Veteran Voce begins as a virtual gathering of art, music, spoken word, storytelling, and conversation by veterans and their connection to the arts, taking place Memorial Day weekend 2020, hosted in the virtual spiritual sanctuary of the Northlake Unitarian Universalist Congregation. The conversation continues here as a resource for the art, poems, spoken word, storytelling and conversation about our loss, veterans and their connection to the arts as a means for redrawing their experiences and connecting with the civilian community, in hopes of remaking a world that requires less memorials to war, while also making space to honor the humans we've lost.
The May 24th Zoom event included:
- Spiritual practice in the tradition of Unitarian Universalism - A multimedia exhibition and conversation in response to veteran artworks and writing from the personal collection of Trish Brownlee. - Music and Poetry performances by veterans: El'Ja Bowens, Jules Vaquera, Steve Brownlee, Dorian Wallace - Artwork created by veterans, in collaboration with Trish Brownlee, with the Breaking Rag Project Artwork, music, and writing available as links on this site to support the artists below: |
Resources:Operation We Are Here LINK
Support for veterans, families, and more 
Loss is a pain that crosses experiences and generations. A resource for those dealing with loss this day and all days.
Crisis Call Center
24/7 Help Line Call 1 (800) 273-8255 Text CARE to 839863 US Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-8255. |
Buy Artwork & Writing |
Below is work that was presented during our May 24th Zoom Event
Each image links to the original site to purchase the work directly from the creator, if possible, or alternative information. |
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Find the artists:
El’Ja Bowens: https://poetrynmotionnc.vistaprintdigital.com Trish Brownlee: www.trishbrownlee.com Jules Vaquera: https://soundcloud.com/jules-vaquera Dorian Wallace: http://www.dorianwallace.com/ Sarah Sentilles, author of Draw Your Weapons: http://www.sarahsentilles.com/ |
Warrior Writers: warriorwriters.org
Malachi Muncy: http://peacepaperproject.org/profiles/malachimuncy.html Just Seeds Artists: JustSeeds.org Aaron Hughes, Nick Lampert, Sanya Hyland, G. Scott Raffield, Jesse Purcell, Mark Pinto, Koji Pinto, Shaun Slifer, Josh MacPhee |
Research & InfoRmation
More on the art therapy program at Walter Reed & more
Melissa Walker, Art Therapist: www.ted.com/speakers/melissa_walker Creative Forces/NEA: https://www.arts.gov/partnerships/creative-forces
National Geographic Feature - Healing Soldiers:
Online interactive feature: www.nationalgeographic.com/healing-soldiers or download the print version of the magazine here BACKGROUNDTrish Brownlee is an artist, storyteller, theologian, educator, and veteran. Trish began Veteran Voce: Veterans & The Arts, as an awareness campaign by first hosting an exhibit titled Budget Cuts in Fayetteville, NC on Thursday, April 13, 2017, focusing on the work of veteran artists, writers, performers, and more. The evening included discussion about how veterans benefit from art therapy and other arts practices, formal and grassroots, in the years following their service to our country. This presentation and exhibit was based on Trish's research during her MFA thesis and includes local and national working artists.
Veteran Voce has since evolved into on-going conversations, exhibits, and conversation in various formats and locations, with a goal of using the arts to help veterans and service members express and process their military experiences, bring awareness to the need for arts experience in processing trauma, and bridge the gaps between civilian and veterans communities, while working to remake a more peaceful world. |
More Veteran Artists At WorkGrants/Funding for Artists
Artist Relief Emergency Fund For more information on Artist Relief Funds During COVID-19, visit the Emerging Veteran Art Movement website. FRONT LINE ARTS:
PAPERMAKING STUDIO http://www.frontlinearts.org/praxis-in-color/2017/3/31/from-the-studio-to-the-streets-mobile-paper-and-print-workshops More about the work of Frontline Arts (formerly Combat Paper New Jersey) & Warrior Writers, serving the Northeast/MD area.
Video Credit: Susan Wallner, PBS State of the Arts NJ How to take action:JOIN or Support:
Support Veterans. Support Arts. Find Peace - A call to action to our elected officials: - Fund veterans needs before any further spending on war and defense. We cannot send our service members to war when we are not taking care of them when they return. - Save and expand the National Endowment for the Arts, which supports artists and programs that help our veterans. We stress to our elected officials that the federal budget must prioritize veterans’ services on at least an equal footing with any increase in defense and weapons systems spending. Additionally, our representatives must understand that when they defund arts and humanities programs (the NEA, the NEH, Community Development Block Grants) they are defunding organizations that work with veterans through the arts and art therapy as a means for dealing with wartime experiences and trauma. This funding comes through the federal budget to national and states organizations, and often its wider impact and influence cannot be measured in simply numbers. We hope to create a peaceful space for awareness, conversation and connection. Contact your elected officials and urge them to: - vote against cuts to arts and humanities organizations in proposed budgets. Increase funding! - focus funds instead on veterans - not war and defense spending You can find more ways to contact elected officials here through the Arts Action Center.
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