If you have questions please contact us at
If you have questions please contact us at
Mission statement
The Art of War is here to help veteran's that
suffer from
issues that are associated with living and
working in a war zone. We offer an
outlet for their issues with PTSD, and to
transcend their issues into the
making of art and other hands on activities as a
release of stress. By focusing
on doing things with their hands and being in a
group that have shared
experiences, day to day stresses seem to be
easier to cope with.
This came directly from the VA site
Our recent Veterans are seeking care at VA more than ever before. VA data show that from 2002 to 2009, 1 million troops left active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan and became eligible for VA care. Of those troops, 46% came in for VA services. Of those Veterans who used VA care, 48% were diagnosed with a mental health problem.
http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/overview-mental-health-effects.asp
This above article is why we need to look for other ways to help our war veterans.
If you take out all the %'s and just put it into simple terms. Its alot of people no matter how you slice it or politically play with the numbers.
We as a country sent these men and women into harms way and now need to lend a helping hand to help in their way back to normal life.
The
Art Of War is here to help individuals that suffer
from
issues
that are associated with living and working in a war zone. We offer
an
outlet for their PTSD
issues to transcend into art and other projects as a
release.
As an overveiw of what we offer the veteran's is fellowship and the outlet for them to turn their feelings and experiences into art. We also use art as a very loose term because art means so many different things to so many people. Art could be a painting or a picture. It could also be a brass sculpure, or even an old car restored to its original beauty. We are here to facilitate this as much as possible by providing the tools, supplies, expertise, and a place to make the art of their choosing. It is my dream to have several sites that offer a wide variety of learning oppurtunities and the ability to have our veteran's make whatever their hearts desire with the goal of making their lives more fulfilling and giving them tools to relieve stress, along with reintegration into society.
We
also help with networking in industry. This could be just helping
someone find work in an industry that is new to them but that fits
their skill set. It could also be finding leaders
and innovator’s in nitch industries that
could provide facts and data that could be used to build proto
type's for that veteran. After all the facts and data are
arranged and discussed we build it. No lengthy paperwork, no see
these 10
people and if they all agree we can do it. Just plain and simple.
Think it, plan it, build it, us it.
We are lucky enough to know and work with major players in the manufacturing industry that are more than willing to help on most occasions.
At some point we hope to have sponsorship that we will be able to display on the site and on some of the projects we make. I hope to be able to do one large shop project (car or truck) a year that we can sell after SEMA to generate interest and money for the Non-profit to keep us going.
The reasoning behind our two
almost separate approaches to Art are with Vehicles on one
side and
metal, clay, and
other types of free art are this. We have to think about a
few
things. First being the
therapy portion which both conventional art and working
and building a vehicle can provide.
Another
thing we need
to be concerned with incorporating is technical skill into our
veteran’s
therapy. While
painting, sculpture, and other forms of metal art are great
to
learn and do, the term
starving artist originated somewhere. While the ability
to work on and build vehicles is a
skill that could become a revenue source for
someone that has maybe less talent than an
Artist arena. We feel that with a
broad almost undefined scope for art we may lose
the attention of some of our donors
but, we will be able to hone skills
in both conventional and unconventional art
and give our veterans the best possible chance
to succeed.
This was one of our most powerful pieces. Making it from scrap armor from vehicles in and around Balad Iraq was not the powerful part. We put it in DEFAC #1 at the main entrance and before I was finished placing the 2000 lbs of artwork,... I 550 corded a sharpie to the flag and wrote on the front a few of my Sea Bee friends that had been killed in action. The powerful part was that I came back to Balad early 2010 to do a quick job. I found our sign still there with over 1500 rest in peace messages written on her. The hair on my neck stood on end. That in itself gave me the motivation to start the Art of War. In remembering our friends, coworkers and, buddies we start the healing process for our selves.
Copyright 2011 The Art of War
