About Veterans Services
Art Spark Texas (formerly VSA Texas) started services specifically for veterans with disabilities/wounded warriors in 2009. We host an annual exhibition of veterans’ artwork and provide opportunities year-round for artists to get involved with our Artworks: Creative Industries professional development program.
We offer writing workshops for current and prior service members and their family members in Austin, Temple, and Killeen. Click here for a list of current classes.
Art Spark Texas is a collaborator with the Austin Veteran Arts Festival (AVAFest), a project of the Veteran Suicide Prevention Channel. The month long festival runs October 12 - November 16, 2019 with creative events by and for Veterans and their family members throughout the city of Austin.
October - November, 2019
- Art Spark Texas Art Exhibits - 17 Austin locations
October 14 - 17, 2019
- EXIT12 Stories of War Performance Workshop (FREE)
October 18 & 19, 2019
- EXIT12 Stories of War Performance ($10-$15)
October 26 - 27, 2019
- Veteran Writers Conference (FREE)
October 27, 2019
- The Long Road Home Film Screening and Panel (FREE)
October 28, 2019
- Veteran Writers Workshop (FREE)
November 2- 3, 2019
Art Spark Texas is producing the following AVAFest events:
EXIT12 Dance Residency
Art Spark Texas brings award-winning, contemporary dance company EXIT12 to Austin's Dougherty Art Center for a performance of Stories of War told through monologues, poetry, and dance. Learn More
Stories of War Performance:
Friday & Saturday
October 18 & 19, 2019 - 8:00 pm
Dougherty Art Center
Price: $10/$15
Performance Workshop:
Monday - Thursday
October 14-17, 2019
6:00 - 9:00 pm
Dougherty Art Center
FREE
Veteran Art Exhibits
Exhibitions organized and curated by Art Spark Texas Artworks Director, April Sullivan. Exhibitions feature art from veterans and their family members on view all over the city of Austin as part of AVAFest. Visit art at 17 locations throughout October and November 2019. Learn More
Veteran Writers Workshop
Writing Workshop for Veterans and Family Members, Led by Jack London and instructors from the Military Writers Society of America. Learn More
Monday, October 28, 2019
Austin Central Library
FREE
VETERAN WRITERS CONFERENCE
The AVA Fest Veteran Writers Conference offers presentations by leading writers, poets, and more. An open mic closes off the first night. Learn More
Saturday & Sunday
October 26 - 27, 2019
Austin Central Library
FREE
Veteran Health & Wellness Conference
The AVAFest Veteran Health and Wellness Conference offers information on pathways to healing through community and the arts. Learn More
Saturday & Sunday
November 2 - 3, 2019
Austin Central Library
FREE
Art Spark Texas (formerly VSA Texas) works with arts organizations statewide to forge partnerships with vet organizations to provide art programs for veterans and military families. Based on our research in partnership with the Texas Commission on the Arts, we have found there is a growing need for arts-related services for Texas veterans and military personnel in our communities. If you are an arts organization interested in learning more about providing art programs for veterans, examples of successful programs, and trainings on working with veterans and military families, please contact us at (512) 454 - 9912 or [email protected].
The arts are important to veterans because for many returning military personnel it is a way to express all that they saw, heard, and experienced during war. It is also important to civilians to understand what our veterans have been through and to open pathways of communication.
Funding for the 2018/19 Distinguished Artist Veterans program of Art Spark Texas is funded by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans A airs and the state and local arts agencies. This initiative serves the special needs of military patients and veterans with traumatic brain injury and psychological health conditions, as well as their families and caregivers. Administrative support for this initiative is provided by Americans for the Arts.
Thank you to our AVAFest Art Spark Texas event supporters:
National Geographic, Texas Film Commission, Austin Film Festival, Reeve Foundation, The Austin Chronicle, Texas Commission on the Arts, and National Endowment on the Arts
Listen to Art Spark Texas Artworks Director April Sullivan on KOOP Radio in Austin (August 2019), discussing the Veterans Writing Workshops and Listening Event, and reading selections from the 2019 collection of published writings The Re-Integration Project.
