Army veteran Gladys Lawrence joined the military for work, not because she felt called to serve. Decades later, she found something she'd been missing through painting, drawing, and creative expression at the Central Ohio VA: a voice and a purpose.
Lawrence is one of many veterans using art classes offered through the Ohio Department of Veterans Services' Whole Health Program, which provides creative therapies alongside traditional medical care.
For Lawrence, the military was a way to work during a time of "pronounced" unemployment in the South, especially for Black people, she said.
She said she never found her ideal fit in the service, but said the experience taught her perseverance.
"I think one of the big things when I initially got out of the military, I noticed that in the military, you're willing to do that extra," Lawrence said. "And it was a little disappointing not seeing it in the quote-unquote outside world."
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lawrence took an online painting and drawing class through the VA's Whole Health Program — a new experience that ignited her passion.
"I think my teacher didn't think it was quite a success, but I mean, it set a spark for me," Lawrence said. "Within drawing, I really found that I love reductions where you take the charcoal dust and you lift off. I love that meditative, slow process."
The art is helping me connect with people in new ways.Gladys Lawrence
Lawrence began taking one art class after another. Now she dances, plays piano and guitar, paints, draws, and writes stories.
"Sometimes if the writing's not happening, I go paint," she said. "If I don't feel like painting, I can pick up and go to guitar or the piano. You know, in the military, you don't really give up. You just go to the next thing. I don't give up."
Art has given Lawrence something she felt was missing.
"It's giving me a voice and a purpose," she said. "I feel like I still got a message. I'm a vet. Like many of my vets, we've gone through a lot of trauma in our lives. Over time, I kind of felt like I was disconnected. The art is helping me connect with people in new ways."
Lawrence said the military prepared her to see possibilities and options, and art has expanded that perspective.
"The art is healing," she said. "It really is. We need the arts. We really do."
Veterans' Voices is presented by Wright-Patt Credit Union. Additional support comes from the Dayton Ombudsman Veterans Transition Team and Montgomery County Veterans Service Commission. Veterans' Voices is produced at the Eichelberger Center for Community Voices.
