Healing Through the Arts

Tammi Henke
Jan 14, 2023
2 min read

Updated: Jan 15, 2023

Richard Casper, a United States Marine veteran and Purple Heart recipient, knew he needed to heal himself somehow. In 2006, he was serving in Iraq and was injured in an IED blast to his vehicle. His best friend also died during the same attack. After returning home three months later from a war zone, he had a hard time acclimating to every day life, and was struggling to cope. He was trying to stay focused on studying after a return to college, but was failing miserably. He decided to enroll in a basic painting and drawing class as an elective credit, and then, unknown to him at the time, art would change his life forever. During the class, he created the painting pictured above, which shows him at his best friend's gravestone, surrounded by a sea of red. Through the support of his instructor and fellow classmates, he realized that he could use art as a vessel to promote healing. Through his art, he was able to start creating pieces, mostly in clay, that helped him work through his grief and experiences of war. So much so that he realized that this could be a much needed element in helping other veterans as well. Eventually, in 2013, he started the organization called CreatiVets. Housed in different locations--Chicago, California, and Nashville, this program gives veterans a place to help them heal through the arts. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Southern California, take care of the visual arts component. Veterans can take a 2-3 week class and are encouraged to use drawing, painting, clay, or other various forms of art media. Nashville,Tennessee, covers the songwriting component, and pairs veterans with accomplished songwriters and musicians to help them express their experiences through story and song. Richard was recently a 2022 recipient of CNN's Heroes Award. You can read more of Richard's incredible story here, and view some of his artwork below. Whether using painting or pottery, singing or writing, or any of the hundreds of other art forms out there, this story is a great example of the healing power that the arts can have for us all.