Day 195: United States Veterans Arts Program

I am a strong advocate of the arts and the healing power that creation can have. When I stumbled upon United States Veterans Arts Program, I thought it was a cool organization working to provide education, supplies, and more to veterans with an interest in the arts. This is a terrific way to help our veterans have their artistic voice embedded in our cultural landscape. 

USVAP is an organization that seeks to support veterans in the arts, so that their unique voice, combined with their universal experience, can be amplified. Ones’ military background should not disqualify them from contributing a valuable message to the essence of the cultural aestheticism.  However, too often that is the case, as veterans appear to be disproportionately underrepresented in the arts community. USVAP will provide resources, develop opportunities, and implement projects that will bring visibility to veterans and their contribution to the arts.

1) To provide opportunities for US Veteran artists to work collaboratively with Vietnamese artists on artistic projects; to offer encouragement and support for the collaborative process particularly across cultural boundaries; and to positively bring together new and existing audiences to discover or rediscover the cultural and artistic traditions of both countries.

2) To provide “Artistic Tools®” (musical instruments, painting supplies, art scholarships, cameras, computers, etc.) to wounded service members from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; and to bring visibility to the power of art and how it might bring cathartic inner solace for those Americans who have sacrificed in service to their country.

3) Through veteran initiatives, provide “Artistic Tools®” to selected individuals who wish to continue their pursuit of artistic expression but are unable to do so, due to some aspect directly related to the consequences of war.

Amount Donated: $5
To support United States Veterans Arts Program, please visit: http://www.usvap.org