LISA NELSON RAABE

Upon entering the 22 VA Art Exhibit last November in the Downtown Branch of the Peoria Public Library, I immediately felt connected to a wide range of creative works. Walls were lined with paintings, photos, recycled art, quilts, writing, carvings, and images of flags, military gear, and documentary photos. Some are benign, hand-carved canes and wooden figures, duck decoys, carved eggs and masks by the daily craft of creating — of letting the hand find it’s way through physical material. Others tear through the curtain of ease to present the odd, with an edge toward the terror and awe of confrontation with the unimaginable.

This work is done by the Veteran Artists of the 22 VA to help process, share and come to terms with experiences from military life. Some scenes are reminiscent of places known during service, others are inner spaces that call back unresolved memories. As easily as one may be drawn into wonderful scenes of beach life, fantastic creatures or vegetation imagery, there remains a calling to and a reverence for the heart of each artist’s exploration. Each Veteran Artist is using their particular skill set to make and share what arises in them now even years after leaving the service.

In my earlier life, I trained and practiced as an art therapist. Art therapy uses creativity as a process to uncover and explore bits and pieces of our psyches. Those places and spaces that lie hidden and unresolved, sometimes continue to fester, often remaining unnamed and unknown. As a baby, we first experience the world through senses — image, sound, touch, taste. And only after maturing do words begin to take shape, first concretely and then as abstract constructs that allow us to interpret, find meaning and form resolutions.

The art done in this exhibition is generated in my old type of arena. It is art for the sake of expressing itself, and — although there are many quality pieces — it is not done for the market but for the ease of being found in allowing new views of past pain to exist side by side with present experience.

22VA exhibit at the Peoria Public Library.
PHOTO BY LISA NELSON RAABE

I found myself both drawn to the exhibit and also challenged to allow each piece to speak its truth. At the opening reception, veterans shared with visitors and each other the stories and events present in the work. I heard several accounts of their motivations, tours of service and also the hollowness of unresolved events. Yet, the joy and camaraderie of sharing in this moment was prevalent.

How does one handle the memory of an unnamed man who gave his life helping you escape harm and was left on the battlefield because enemy fire endangered anyone taking him back to barracks? The stories they share and the images presented fuel the mission of the 22 VA: Help veterans cope with long-term grief and PTSD, to choose life, joy, liberty and to speak openly.

Veteran suicide claims the lives of 22 veterans a day, double the civilian population. In acknowledging and sharing this work in our community, we are all part of healing together.