Exhibition features soldiers’ artwork as part of community outreach, healing

A soldier’s life can be very stressful and it can be hard to return to a more normal life or connect with the community when back home. A special exhibition running through Sunday at the El Paso Museum of Art is showcasing a way for these returning warriors to better express themselves.

“It gives them an outlet of something new and different that maybe they’ve never tried,” said Robin Fox, supervisor for Ft. Bliss Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR). “And also, (it) gives them a way to express.”

After the battle is over and the injuries heal, there can still be mental and emotional scars left over, and creating art is one of the ways that our nation’s service men and women can try to work through those issues.

Fox has been overseeing a program introducing soldiers to different forms of art and teaching them to make it themselves.
“I think the biggest one was that “I can do this,'” Fox said. “They come in and go “Ah, I can’t paint.’ And then they walk out with something like that.”

The exhibition features artwork created by students and volunteer artists participating in the Soldier Art Workshops presented by the El Paso Art Association. Volunteer art instructors like Jan Dreher help teach soldiers different mediums to create their own works, like Dreher’s specialty of encaustic painting which uses a heated wax-based type of paint.

“Painting is very expressive,” Dreher said. “And it’s a really good way to get your emotions and feelings out and not hold them inside. And I think it’s a great benefit to the soldiers and families to be able to do something that’s just fun.”

The process can possibly help soldiers work through their own issues and surprise themselves in the process.

“It was a privilege,” Dreher said. “I also found that they needed very little instruction before they just took off and did it.”

The show started Thursday and runs through Sunday at the El Paso Museum of Art, located at the intersection of Santa Fe Street and Sheldon Court in downtown. Admission is free.