Veterans' art reveals hardships, hope and healing in 'Identity' exhibit
Growing up in Norwalk in Huron County, Theresa Reer did not have a particular interest in art.
“I was always athletic and outgoing and doing other things,” said Reer, a 48-year-old Westerville resident.
As an adult, Reer served in the U.S. Army, where, during the war in Afghanistan, she led a medical team. During her deployment, she suffered severe, life-altering injuries.
More:Veterans and invisible wounds: How ex-combat soldiers cope with 'nature of war'
“I had sustained injuries to my left hip and pelvis area, and I was in a body cast for six months,” said Reer, who recuperated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda from 2015 to 2018. She was in a wheelchair for about two years, and she struggled with verbal speech due to traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
Yet, amid all of those challenges, there was one positive and altogether unexpected change: While at Walter Reed, she discovered the value of expressing herself through art.
Art as therapy
“The one thing that was my saving grace during the whole recovery was being able to wheel myself in the wheelchair to the art room,” Reer said. “Even with limited function, I was able to paint and explore my feelings through art. It essentially gave me the ability to communicate through my art.”
Reer is among the military veterans spotlighted in a new exhibition at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, “IDENTITY: Exploring Veteran Narratives Through Art + Music.” Presented in partnership with CreatiVets, an arts-focused veterans group in Nashville, the show opened in late October and will remain on display through March 19.
The new exhibition was organized to acknowledge the physical injuries, such as TBI, as well as the mental health challenges, including post-traumatic stress (PTS), borne by veterans.
“It doesn’t mean that someone saw something that was so horrific that they have nightmares every night,” said Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Ferriter, the president and CEO of the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. “But it could be that she spent 300 days in Iraq, every day getting up (with) what I call compression. ... When a veteran served day after day, and they know they’ve got to lace the boots up the next day and do it again and do it again, there can be remnants as they unwind.”
More:Columbus Winter Fun 2023: Expect diverse works by local visual and literary artists
For some veterans, making art can be an integral part of that “unwinding” process.
“Participating in the arts ... is proven to build resilience and enhance coping skills and increase self-esteem and generate well-being,” said Meagan McGowan, director of exhibitions at the memorial and museum.
Some 21 pieces are on display at the museum, including installations, paintings, sculpture, photography and even music.
To represent the musical component of the show, photographs by Jason Myers show veterans who have embarked on songwriting to help process their experiences; QR codes allow visitors to pull up the veterans’ actual songs.
“Most of the artwork that is shared really is an unpacking of service and what that may have been for someone who served,” McGowan said. “In some cases, it’s about a very specific moment or something that happened, or for some, they’re talking about it sort of as a whole.”
Emerging from the darkness
At Walter Reed, Reer began making paintings in acrylic that reflected her state of mind at the time.
“My first paintings were very dark in color,” she said. “It held a lot of my deep, dark memories from deployment (and) a lot of survivor’s guilt. A lot of hurt was clearly displayed in my art pieces.”
By the time her stay at Walter Reed was ending, Reer was using colors in her paintings, and at present, she works extensively in pottery.
“The use of your hands and just the texture — you kind of get lost in your art medium,” said Reer, whose mixed-media piece on view as part of the “IDENTITY” exhibition, titled “Recovery Chaos,” reflects her more hopeful mood today.
“Recovery Chaos” features a swirl in plaster that represents the chaos and confusion of Reer’s injury; at the center of the swirl is a yellow dot that stands in for the light at the end of the tunnel. A second carved wooden piece, showing light shining through leaves, hangs in front of the plaster swirl.
More:Lego exhibit at Columbus Museum of Art urges patrons to think outside the blocks
“The swirl in the back is my yesterday,” she said. “The walking out of darkness is my today.”
On a stand is a plaster cast of Reer’s hand holding a live rose, which, she said, “symbolizes a better tomorrow.”
Whether visitors have themselves served in the military or not, they will find themselves enlightened by the veterans’ art.
“I think the general public will look at these pieces or listen to the music and say, ‘I totally get it. I can see what this person has gone through,’” Ferriter said. “Or they’re going to say, ‘I’m really curious. I’m not sure I understand what this person was going through.' ... We think that’s healthy in both cases.”
At a glance
“IDENTITY: Exploring Veteran Narratives Through Art + Music” is on view through March 19 at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, 300 W. Broad St. Admission costs $18, or $16 for senior citizens, $13 for college students, $11 for ages 5 to 17, and free for age 5 and younger and veterans, active-duty military personnel and Gold Star families.
A photography workshop with photographer Jason Myers, offered free for veterans only, will take place at 10 a.m. Feb. 10. For more information, visit nationalvmm.org.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Art exhibit by veterans runs through March 19 at memorial and museum
