Bay Pines VA Provides Veterans Hope, Healing Through Creative Arts
Creative arts are one of the many tools Veterans use to achieve recovery and nothing demonstrates the culmination of those efforts more than the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival (NVCAF), which will be hosted by the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System (BPVAHCS) from April 20-25.
“For so many Veterans, traditional talk therapy often isn't enough,” said Erin Todd, national host site coordinator for NVCAF, BPVAHCS. “Having some more creative outlets available to help them process and express what they're dealing with can be really beneficial. The impact I see on them on the day of our show is great. They're so excited to be able to show their work.”
In 2021, during our local creative arts competition, the Bay Pines VA offered virtual modalities for Veterans to submit their work while remaining protected in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The creative arts competition is held annually nation-wide at different VA facilities and is open to all Veterans who are enrolled in VA health care. More than 90 Veterans participated in BPVAHCS’ 2021 competition, submitting art in a variety of categories to include, photography, painting, sketches, musical compositions, graphic illustrations, written pieces and more.
Charlene Walker, U.S. Navy Veteran, earned silver nationally for her digital art piece ‘Letting Joy Lead as Curiosity Steers.’
“I haven’t tried to enter any type of competition since I was in elementary school,” she said. “Art is one of those things where I hear I have potential, but I dare not go there because of the disruption it would cause in my family dynamic. To actually put my toe in the water and be recognized, not just at the local level, but nationally, too, is mind-blowing to me.”
Walker continued, “It’s mind-altering and it helps stabilize that part of me to where I can see myself pursuing this, instead of letting it be something that I keep hidden in my computer files.”
The first-place winning entries from the local creative arts competition advance to a national judging process and first, second and third place entries in each category are determined. The selected gold-medal-winning Veterans are invited to attend the NVCAF, which is the culmination of talent competitions in several categories and is hosted by a different VA facility each year.
There are a broad range of categories for the type of art that can be submitted, which empowers Veterans to let their work speak through them. Veterans like Steve Banko, a Vietnam-era soldier, who earned gold at the national-level for his memoir ‘The Magic of Christmas,’ are provided a pathway to camaraderie through these local and national events.
“On Dec. 3, 1968, we lost 86% of the soldiers who were there when we started that day,” Banko said. “Everyone with me was either killed or badly wounded; I was shot twice that day.”
According to Banko, he spent the first portion of his recovery in the hands of incredible medical staff in Vietnam. On Christmas Eve, it was decided that Banko and some of his fellow comrades would be transferred to Japan for the remainder of their recovery. Upon his arrival, Banko found himself surrounded by the depths of his harrowing experience.
“When we got to Yakota Air Force Base, I was really, really depressed because now I’m back in the company of complete strangers in a completely foreign environment. I was really feeling sorry for myself, in an unhealthy way,” Banko said. “The only thing that was familiar, was the music. It harkened back to my childhood, and the happy memory of hearing those Christmas Carols.”
Those melodies served as a double-edged sword for Banko. Not only did they bring him back to the simple joys of his early years, but they also provided a constant reminder that he was lightyears away from those memories.
For this national hero, his life-altering experience inspired a lifetime of spreading hope to others through writing. Now, Banko is one of many Veterans who uses his work as a vessel to soothe, heal and inspire.
“In the midst of all this turmoil, I was placed next to a guy who was in so much worse condition than I was. It kind of snapped me out of this self-pity and brought me back to the reality that no matter how bad it is for you, some people are dealing with worse,” Banko continued. “For me, in that moment, there was a broader spiritual context that we all can feel hope; we all should understand that the darkness can actually be penetrated by light.”
Bay Pines VA will host the first in-person NVCAF since the start of the pandemic and of the more than 100 Veterans who received gold at the national level, seven of them are Bay Pines VA Veterans. In an effort to continue safeguarding the wellbeing of Veterans and staff, the Festival is invite only but people will still be able to show their support virtually. Those who are unable to attend can view the participants’ artwork, writing pieces, performances and watch the live stage show on April 24 at 2 p.m. by visiting www.creativeartsfestival.org.
To learn more, visit https://www.blogs.va.gov/nvspse/national-veterans-creative-arts-festival/. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter and follow @Sports4Vets as well, to encourage Veterans as they participate in workshops, explore the arts around town and showcase their talent during the week of the Festival.