Healing Through Art and Creativity
Brian Turner is an award-winning poet who has played in rock bands his entire life. Kurt Erickson is a self-described literary groupie who learned to compose by writing poetry and improvising on the piano. Will Chase is a filmmaker who writes his own screenplays and has a varied musical background, studying conducting and percussion at Oberlin Conservatory. All three artists use music and creative writing to express, entertain and heal through the storytelling process. While HERE, BULLET will certainly have cinematic appeal and success in the Film Festival world due to its visual and musical allure, the larger appeal is that HERE, BULLET will also claim its place in concert halls, classrooms, museums, and homes across the globe, not only helping “classical music” reach a broader audience, but also helping to cultivate a dialogue around music, art, and film to see where they fit in the social landscape, in turn using art and creativity in our daily lives to work through trauma and emotionally difficult life events.
Along those lines, the poem, the art song, and the soon-to-be-film, have all culminated in FINDING VOICE AND VISION, an arts therapy program for Veterans.
FINDING VOICE AND VISION is rooted in the belief that art is not only a form of expression, it is a powerful force for healing, grounding, and transformation. For veterans from under-resourced communities, the program offers a rare opportunity to engage in creative practices that restore emotional balance, rebuild identity, and reconnect them with community.
Healing begins with storytelling. Through writing, music, and film, veterans are invited to explore their lived experiences in a safe, nonjudgmental space. Art allows them to externalize trauma, process grief, and give shape to emotions that are often difficult to articulate. This creative release is not only cathartic-it is clinically supported as a pathway to emotional recovery.
FINDING VOICE AND VISION offers a flexible, participant-centered experience modeled after a "Choose Your Own Adventure" approach. Each veteran is invited to engage with creative prompts in a way that feels personally meaningful and emotionally safe. There is no expectation to produce a specific type of work-or any work at all. Participants have full agency to explore, reflect, and create (or not) in the style and format of their choosing.
The Creative Team serves as gentle guides, offering seed ideas and inspiration that participants may use, adapt, or set aside. This open-ended structure honors the diverse needs and experiences of veterans, recognizing that healing and growth take many forms and unfold at different paces.
As participants engage in the creative process, licensed recovery coaches help draw out and support the emotional and cognitive connections that emerge. Grounded in current neuroscience, the program acknowledges that artmaking can activate parts of the brain often inaccessible through traditional talk therapy-opening pathways essential for whole-brain healing and post-traumatic growth.
A key element of the program's success is gently encouraging participants to step beyond their comfort zones. By the end of the three-month journey, many will have shared difficult experiences with peers, explored challenging themes through art, participated in open-hearted therapeutic conversations, and presented their work in a culminating public event. These moments of expression and recognition can be profoundly transformative.
FINDING VOICE AND VISION wouldn’t exist without the partnership and help of many incredible individuals and institutions.
Check out our partners here.
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