Client: Texan-French Alliance for the Arts

Overview

The Texan-French Alliance for the Arts San Antonio “Open the Door” veterans’ pilot program has already impacted positively the lives of all the contributors to the program (veterans who suffer from PTSD, artists, community leaders, therapists), their families and the public that has interacted and will interact in the future with the program and its participants. This collaboration uses art to initiate a dialogue between veterans, local artists, community leaders and expert therapists, offering veterans a means to express themselves openly in a healing process. The painted doors are the end products of a deliberate creative process, including a series of therapeutic workshops, an exhibition documenting the veterans’ journey, and a public art installation that activates interaction between veterans and their community.

Goals

The Open the Door veterans program uses art as a visual dialogue between veterans, local artists, and members of the community. This citywide public art program provides a platform for veterans to express themselves and begin the healing process.

Process

There were 5 teams, each made up of one artist, one community leader (by coincidence, all were educators) and one veteran. The premise was for the veteran to share their story, the artist come up with a visual representation of that narrative and the educator help facilitate the verbiage. Starting with a two day workshop to introduce team members and assign teams we spent the next several weeks designing and construction the veterans vision on a solid steel door that would then be placed in various parts of the city to showcase the pilot program, start discussions and promote the program.