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Contest Calls Up Veterans' Creativity

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By JOYCE McKENZIE

jmckenzie@tampatrib.com

Published: March 4, 2009

UNIVERSITY AREA - Veterans receiving medical treatment at local Veterans Affairs facilities came out in droves recently when offered the opportunity to show off their artistic talents that many kept under wraps.

More than 130 men and women jumped at the chance to reveal their creative abilities, from which judges selected about 50 pieces of art to exhibit in the annual James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital art show on Feb. 24.

The displays consisted of fine and applied art forms that included paintings, pencil drawings, sculptures and photography. There also was a mix of ceramic pieces, woodcarvings and needle and leather work. Among the various genres of craft kit items were string, poster and fabric art.

The program also featured several live performances in which veterans sang, danced and recited poetry. Some played musical instruments including the guitar, flute and piano.

The juried competition was in preparation for October's National Veterans Creative Arts Festival in San Antonio, Texas. At that show Tampa's first-place finishers will vie for top honors along with other art show winners from veterans' facilities across the country.

Recreational specialist and art show coordinator Kathryn Bryant, however, described it as much more than an art show. She said the program gives veterans an opportunity to relieve stress. She said it also provides the audience members, many of whom are patients in the hospital's spinal cord injury unit and suffer from brain damage, the chance to be stimulated by the sights and the sounds of the event.

"The real intent of the program is therapeutic," Bryant said. "They learn to use artistic processes to focus their attention away from their often painful experiences. We call it recreational therapy."
Recreational therapist Mary Donovan said she has seen brain-injured patients "come alive" during situations that are not the norm.

"They can hear the music; they can smell the smells," she said. "These are the things they become aware of."

Donovan also said the art show participants often reveal feelings they have never before exposed in public.

Air Force veteran Jo Boda, the winner of the military combat experience art category, created a watercolor collage titled, "The Iraq Experience." Beside it was a note he composed to describe the ordeal.

"I have never called myself an artist, but I found artistic expression in a combat zone," Boda wrote. "Late at night when I was with my own thoughts, I would recall situations that are still both haunting and joyous.

"My artwork is a reflection of not just what happened, but how it felt. My goal is that others who have experienced war will also be able to express themselves in this positive outlet in the recovery process."

Navy veteran Dwayne Scheuneman, whose legs are paralyzed as a result of a 1992 swimming pool accident, performed a dance from his wheelchair with Amie Fishinger, a dancer and artistic director of the Revolutions Dance studio in Dunedin.

"Dancing is an outlet that brings me the freedom of expression," said Scheuneman, who for three consecutive years has won the event's mixed ability performing arts category.

Linda Gibson, 60, a Women's Army Corps veteran, read two poems she composed. In her piece titled "Choices," Gibson described how she learned to live with a bipolar disorder. In her presentation of "Survivor" she spoke about the tragedies and triumphs associated with her mental illness.

"I lost my dignity. ... I hurt, I was ashamed and disgusted with myself. There was an absence of joy, a loss of purpose ... and I was a nonentity," she said. "I became paranoid. ... I lived in silence for over 16 years. I prevented myself from getting help."

Gibson is now two years into recovery and is an advocate for others who also suffer from mental illness.

Reporter Joyce McKenzie can be reached at (813) 865-4849.

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