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Women Veterans' Exhibit Showcases Art's Healing Power
Voices of VISN 6
November 2019
https://www.visn6.va.gov/images/voicesofvisn6vol10no2.pdf
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Fayetteville VA hosted an Art exhibit showcasing artwork by six local women veterans November 7th through December 2nd at the Fayetteville VA Health Care Center.
HCC staff and visitors got a chance to meet the artist and see their artwork during a special unveiling event November 7th.
The project is a collaboration between the Women Veterans Art Project (WVAP) an organization seeking to honor Women Veterans and educate the public about their service through ART, and the Community Patriot Arts Connection (CPAC) a local nonprofit whose mission is to offer creative workshops to encourage Patriots and their families to connect, create, and use their gifts and interests to cope with disabilities and difficulties in life.
The exhibit was arranged to coincide with Veterans month, November 2019. The Women Veterans who created the artwork spoke glowingly about Arts healing power and it's positive impact on their lives.
Air Force veteran Marguerite "Marzie" Brosseau said she was homeless before she started going to occupational therapy that included creating artwork. Initially doubtful because fear made her shake anytime she tried to concentrate, she said she managed to train her brain not to feel fear when she is focusing on her artwork. Her drawing of a raven and a poem about how far she has come we're on display.
Karen Lassiter served in the army for 25 years has a passion for nature photography. She said she was especially proud of one of her pieces that includes the message, "even in your brokenness your beauty radiates" which she says she sees in all-female Veterans. Photography has helped me escape my mind my world, my anxiety and allows me to capture beauty through my lens.
Also contributing to the exhibit was Bernardine "Bernie" Donato, Nadia Salamea, Andrea Tolbert and Rosemary Turner. Donato, a visual artist served in the Navy nurse corps as a tactical C-130 flight nurse with the California Air National Guard.
Salamea, an Army Veteran served in South Korea for 8 years said painting helped her deal with depression.
Tolbert, an Army veteran also said artwork helped her deal with claustrophobia so she was recently able to board a plane and travel to London with her daughter.
Turner who served in the Navy, is a poet who has a podcast and said she wants to be a voice for the voiceless.
Community Patriot Arts Connection, founder Tess Holtzapfel introduced the artists. She was inspired to create CPAC which she described as a creative ministry by talks she had with Veterans during visits to the VA Healthcare Center as a physician liaison for a home health hospice agency.
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By Drew Brooks
Military editor
Posted Nov 3, 2018 at 2:30 PM
Tom Dosier hovers his finger over the image of a young man crouching in front of a platoon in Vietnam nearly 50 years ago. “That’s me,” Dosier said, before identifying a few more of the nearly two dozen smiling men belonging to 3rd Platoon, B Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment. This is no ordinary photograph. Dosier has painstakingly cut it apart and using wood, paint and gloss turned it into something else.
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It’s part woodworking, part collage. It’s a piece of art.
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More important for Dosier, it’s therapeutic. As he made his way from one man to another, Dosier noted those who have died in recent years. He also pointed to the three men the platoon who were lost within a month of the photo being taken in early 1969. Dosier said he can spend hours working on a photograph or post, meticulously cutting it apart and piecing it back together.
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And when he does, all of his worries are pushed to the back of his mind. “It takes your full attention,” he said. “When you’re sitting there with the jigsaw running, it relaxes you.”
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On Friday, Dosier’s work will be among other pieces by veteran artists highlighted at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum in downtown Fayetteville.
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The Community Patriot Arts Center will launch an art exhibit featuring that work on Friday at 6 p.m. as part of the Heroes Homecoming celebration built around Veterans Day. The exhibit will remain at the museum for several weeks.
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The artistic group aims to promote hope and healing through artistic expression. CPAC officials believe the arts can be an outlet to help veterans cope with life’s difficulties while creating something beautiful.
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Dosier, who served from 1966 to 1992 with two tours in Vietnam and a deployment in the first Gulf War, said his art grew out of the frame shop that was his post-military career.
“It’s more or less a hobby,” he said.
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At the Airborne & Special Operations Museum, he will display the photo of his platoon as well as transformed posters paying tribute to past conflicts and the veterans who served in them.
The surviving men in the photo, all veterans of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, still come together each year, Dosier said. There are fewer of them now, he said, victims of time and disease. But in Dosier’s photo, the men are still young. And still smiling.
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This year’s Heroes Homecoming celebrations will span five days starting Thursday, and will serve as a tribute to military families and veterans.
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More than a dozen events are planned for the week-long celebration, and hundreds of businesses and community organizations are expected to participate.
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For a full schedule of events, go to heroeshomecoming.com.
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Military editor Drew Brooks can be reached at dbrooks@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3567.
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Creative forces bring about healing, artists say.
By Steve DeVane
Senior military writer
Posted Nov 16, 2019 at 12:01 PM
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Artwork on display at the Veterans Affairs Health Care Center represents the healing power of art, women veterans who created it said.
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The art exhibit that showcases work by local women veterans will be on display at the center on Raeford Road through Dec. 2. The artwork was unveiled at a ceremony Nov. 7.
Marguerite “Marzie” Brousseau, who served in the Air Force, writes and draws, creating visual and literary art. Brousseau said she was homeless before she started going to occupational therapy that included creating artwork. “I was at my lowest point,” she said. Brousseau said she didn’t think she could create art because fear made her shake any time she tried to concentrate. She was given a tiny brush to paint ceramic artwork and remembers her thoughts after she finished. “This looks really bad, but I created this,” she said. Brousseau said she managed to train her brain not to feel fear when she is focusing on her artwork. The exhibit features a drawing of a raven and poem about how far she has come.
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Bernardine “Bernie” Donato, a visual artist, served in the Navy Nurse Corps and as a tactical C-130 flight nurse with the California Air National Guard. She also worked for more than 20 years as an emergency and trauma nurse in south central Los Angeles. Art helped her deal with post traumatic stress disorder. The exhibit included a painting by Donato depicting a friend running in a 10-mile race. “I paint inspiration,” she said.
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Karen Lassiter, who served in the Army for 25 years, has a passion for nature photography. She believes that photography has helped her escape her mind, her world, her anxiety and her brokenness. “Art has been a way for me to be in touch with nature,” she said.
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Andrea Tolberg, who was in the Army from 1982 to 1989, rediscovered a love for art through VA programs. Creative painting has helped her express her feelings and cope with life after the military. Tolberg said artwork helped her deal with claustrophobia, so she was recently able to board a plane and travel to London with her daughter.
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Nadia Salamea, an Army veteran who served in South Korea for eight years, suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. She enjoys creating art because it helps occupy her mind and started painting because she likes the challenge. Salamea said painting helped her deal with depression.
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Rosemary Turner, who served in the Navy, is a poet who has a podcast and said she wants to be a voice for the voiceless. Her work is intended to touch on issues related to social, emotional and spiritual awareness.
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Heather Hennessey, the Veterans Affairs’ first National Peer Specialist of the Year, was guest speaker. She said painting helps her when she feels depressed. “After I’m done, I have something to look at,” she said. “It’s really great to have something and say, ‘I did this.’”
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The Women Veterans Art Project and the Community Patriot Art Connection helped sponsor the exhibit. Tess Holtzapfel, founder of the art connection, introduced the artists at the ceremony.
Holtzapfel thanked all those who helped make the exhibit possible.
“It’s been an amazing journey,” she said.
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CPAC Made the Front Page on Christmas Day!
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Non Profit plays for Falcon Children's Home
By Monica Vendituoli
Staff writer
Fayetteville Observer
Posted Dec 24, 2017 at 1:57 PM Updated Dec 24, 2017 at 2:02 PM
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Rick Ramos began singing “Mary Did You Know?” at 116 Person St. in downtown Fayetteville around 8 p.m. Tuesday, and the room went quiet.
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After a few verses of the song, some children began singing along quietly.
Ramos was one of multiple members of the Community Patriot Arts Center performing music for residents at Falcon Children’s Home.
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More than 50 children attended. The Falcon Children’s Home takes care of around 100 children who either have been orphaned, been placed in foster care or have been put up for adoption through other circumstances.
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“I liked watching them just smile and have a good time and not worry about anything,” Chris Sorrells said. Sorrells, a retired police officer, played his guitar, and Neil Ray played the drums.
Sorrells said music has helped him get through his toughest moments of post traumatic stress disorder. “It’s part of a long process,” he said.
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In 2009, four of his friends and fellow police officers in Lakewood, Washington, were ambushed and killed while doing paperwork on their laptops at a coffee shop prior to the beginning of their shift. Sorrells was one of the first responders on the site and suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and depression after the incident.
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“At the time, it was like a whirlwind with stuff flying around everywhere,” Sorrells said. “Music helped me categorize and archive and label feelings. It cleared the air and made the whirlwind go away. Every title and every word in the songs had everything to do with what was going on in that moment and leading up to that moment.”
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Sorrells and the other men are part of the Community Patriot Arts Center in Fayetteville. It is a nonprofit that encourages veterans and law enforcement officers to heal from traumatic events through creative expressions such as music and painting.
Tess Holtzapfel, the founder and president, started the organization after working for more than 15 years in health care, where she met many veterans living with post traumatic stress disorder.
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“Going through the motions of expressing painful experiences with words and really taking the time to reach from within to create a poem or a song or any form of art is very healing,” Holtzapfel said. “Sometimes the creative process has a way of revealing who you truly are as well.” After Ramos finished “Mary Did You Know?” he started playing “Jingle Bells.”
A young girl in the audience was invited to play the tambourine with him. Her face lit up with joy as she tapped along to the beat.
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Staff writer Monica Vendituoli can be reached at mvendituoli@fayobserver.com or 486-3596.
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Giving thanks to Richmond County’s veterans
Richmond County Daily Journal
By Gavin Stone - gstone@yourdailyjournal.com
Posted on September 28, 2017 by richmondcountydailyjournal
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http://www.yourdailyjournal.com/news/76052/giving-thanks-to-richmond-countys-veterans
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HAMLET — Roughly 80 veterans packed the Cole Auditorium Thursday to share a meal, and each others’ company, at the Senior Veteran’s Event.
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The event was a chance to give thanks to the veterans, as well as provide opportunities for them to get connected with veterans groups and resources on how to get the services they need such as Veterans Affairs and Social Services, according to Jacqueline Welch, executive director of Richmond County Aging Services, who organized the event.
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“[Aging Services] put on this event to bring veterans together and give something back,” said Dennis Holloway, a director with the North Carolina Baptist Men and communication liaison for AMVETS Post 316. “Most of them don’t do anything but sit around at home, they don’t have an active lifestyle and this gets them to where they all come together and they can all talk about their service.”
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Richmond County Aging Services has provided these events for the last two years, and they try to hold three events a year, according to Welch. The events had previously been held at the Senior Center, but Welch said the program has grown so much that they needed to use Cole Auditorium.
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“It really gives them somewhere to go where they can see other people who are going through the same process they are,” said Holloway, himself a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division.
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Lunch was provided by Freedom Baptist Church Brotherhood, 10-10-10 Ministries and Purdue Foods, with Richmond Senior High School JROTC cadets helping serve the food.
“I like to see the church packed out but I’d rather see people out during the week, serving the Lord,” said Ronnie McLean, senior pastor for Freedom Baptist Church.
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Jasmine Ratliff, a senior at Richmond High and one of the cadets serving the food, said she enjoyed the opportunity to meet veterans.
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“It’s pretty cool because you get to ask them about their experience and what they went through,” said Ratliff, who hopes to become an officer after college.
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While the veterans ate, the Chris Sorrell Project, a band made up of Chris Sorrell, a retired police officer, and Neil Ray, who served in the Air Force from 1975-79, played covers of “Trouble” by Ray LaMontagne and “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, among others.
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They were invited by Tess Holtzapfel, president of Community Patriot Arts Center, which provides veterans with various artistic outlets for their experiences. Ray said that the band had been picking up momentum since working with Holtzapfel in May.
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Both men are lifelong musicians, though with different trades. Sorrell started playing guitar when he was 12 years old and Ray was first published as a poet when he was in third grade, now playing percussion. Sorrell said his years in law enforcement left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, and with his band he hopes to raise awareness about the experiences of police officers who can often be forgotten among those who’s service has left lasting damage.
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“This is me pursuing my creative outlet, writing music and using the project as a forum to help Tess out with the veterans,” Sorrell said. “Because I’m retired police, my heart is kind of in that direction, too, so with the project I’m trying to…focus on getting people’s attention towards the fact that law enforcement gets forgotten a lot.”
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Also with Holtzapfel was Justin Spears, a 12-year veteran who spent seven-and-a-half of those years in combat overseas. Spears said he picked up painting only about eight months ago after a few years out of the service, though you wouldn’t be able to tell that from looking at his work which was on display at the event.
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“I wasn’t sure what to do with myself and it gave me a way to help relax,” Spears said. “There’s a peace that you get when you’re creating.”
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Spears said that he was taking his paintings to a local coffee shop to showcase them when he was introduced to Holtzapfel. Since then he has started to see more and more veterans dealing with the weight of their service through artistic means.
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“When I first started I didn’t have a community — that’s what Tess and the Patriot Arts Center did,” Spears said. “They’re opening me up to the community and allowing me to help people.”
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“Once when I was speaking to Spears, I was telling him how God is our master creator and we are all created in His image,” Holtzapfel mentioned about the positive effects of CPAC. “I believe when we use our God-given gifts, it is healing to us, it is how God designed us.” She also mentioned how much the workshops seem to bless all who attend. “They turn the trauma into something positive through the art they create,” Holtzapfel said.
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Veterans Meet at Cole Auditorium for Afternoon of Information
Richmond Observer
Written by Betty McIntyre
Saturday, 30 September 2017 12:29
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HAMLET – Senior veterans gathered at the Cole Auditorium on Richmond Community College’s campus Thursday for lunch, entertainment and a variety of information.
Veterans, aged 55 and older, were welcomed to the event at no charge.
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Jacqueline Welch, executive director of Richmond County Aging Services, she stated the event first began in September, 2015. The event takes place three times each year, alternating between the Cole, the Senior Center in East Rockingham and the Senior Center in Ellerbe.
“This time we wanted to do something extra special for the senior veterans which would allow more room for participants,” Welch said.
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The Cole Auditorium was chosen and would allow them to serve up to 150 people for lunch. Perdue donated the chicken, which was served for lunch. Freedom Baptist Church Brotherhood 10-10-10 Ministries did the cooking, and also provided all the sides to go along with the meals.
Welch opened with a speech discussing the event details, then the National Anthem was played, with the Pledge of Allegiance following. Tess Holtzapfel from the Community Patriot Arts Center then took the podium. She explained the non-profit organization encourages veterans and families of veterans to pursue their artistic abilities through creative expression: drawing, painting, singing and playing musical instruments.
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Dennis Holloway with the NC Baptist Men was next to speak. He began by stating, “my primary goal in life is to help people.” He went on to discuss the needs in Florida, as well as Puerto Rico, due to the recent hurricane devastation. Holloway invited everyone that could to reach out in any way possible and help.
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Pastor Ronnie McLean, of Freedom Baptist Church, ended the opening ceremony by blessing the food in which students from Richmond Senior High School’s JROTC helped serve. Entertainment was provided during lunch by The Chris Sorrell’s Project. Sorrell is a veteran participant through the Community Patriot Arts Center.
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After lunch the Folding Ceremony was held, in which Holloway, Johnny Autry, Johnny Patrick, and a few others performed. Robin Roberts, with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, gave a short speech thereafter.
Among the many vendors at the event was a representative aid to Senator Thom Tillis, who answered questions anyone may have. and there were more than 20 vendors and booths set up at the event to provide information for the veterans.
Included in these booths were Lowe’s, which was set up to help veterans sign up for the 10% military discount Lowe’s offers, VFW Post, Hamlet Police Department, North Carolina Wildlife (many divisions), American Red Cross, ART (Area Richmond Transit), Department of Social Services, Community Home Care and Hospice, Humana, Purple Heart Association, and a several more. Door prizes provided by vendors were also given out.
The senior centers in Richmond County offer many services and activities throughout the year. Volunteers are currently needed, with an immediate need for volunteers for the Meals on Wheels program. For anyone interested in volunteering, call (910) 997-4491 or on the web at www.richmondnc.com and search the aging services department.
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