How can museums help veterans cope with traumas?
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery’s Vets AK programme aims to give veterans and their relatives a meaningful experience where they can view and create art together.
Coping with traumas through art participation
Under the title of Access AK, Albright-Knox offers accessible programmes allowing participants to express themselves verbally and non-verbally in a safe environment. A remarkable example of this is Vets AK, which offers veterans and their spouses or carers the opportunity of following interactive tours and creative workshops. The museum developed this project due to the demonstrable positive effect art participation has on veterans: coping with trauma, improved communication and social interaction.
Participating in this programme has helped me escape the nightmares of my past and the uncertainties of my future.
Thomas Kazmierczak, U.S. Army Veteran
During the sessions, participants are encouraged to discuss topics relevant to them, such as shared experiences. The content of the guided tours and workshops is therefore determined by the group itself. The workshops are dedicated to free expression: participants create art in a way that suits them, providing them with the chance to discuss and process their feelings.
Veterans and their relatives
Talks with a local veteran support group demonstrated that there was a need for a family programme. Vets AK expanded with Veterans and their Families Connecting Through Art, working in association with Operation COM. This programme provides military families with valuable experiences in which they use art to discuss difficult topics. Participants have stated that it is a valuable way of helping them appreciate art, which would have been impossible for them if they had visited the museum individually.
Image courtesy of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York. Photographer: Tom Loonan.