Why the AVAFest

20+ veterans commit suicide daily
600+ per month
7,300+ per year

Approximately, 32% percent of veterans today suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, or numerous other physical and mental health issues. 50% of veterans with PTSD do not seek treatment, 25% of those who seek treatment, receive "minimally adequate" treatment.

Military Times - New VA study finds 20 veterans commit suicide each day
From the Americans for the Arts - Art Therapy, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Veterans

Other Quotes:
“My experience as a behavioral neurologist with art therapy was a more conventional approach to use art as a technique. This is a different approach that allows for insight building and expression in a nonverbal, non-threatening way that helps the patients understand themselves and their issues better, explain them to others, and work on them. It allows for a depiction of what they're really struggling with in ways that are not just visual but truly visceral.”
~ James Kelly, National Geographic, How Art Heals the Wounds of War, 2015

“Veterans often find it hard to adjust back to daily life when they return home, but one fellow soldier says that music and art can help them regain a sense of healing and hope.”
~ Perry Chiaramonte, Fox News, Veterans using the creativity of music and art to heal PTSD, 2017

“When service members leave the military, they often bear internal scars. Although those injuries can reverberate through every aspect of a person’s life, they can’t be seen.
Art therapy is used to make these inner struggles tangible and help heal those wounds.”
~ Erin Blakemore, Washington Post, Here’s a chance to see art that helps heal the wounds of war, 2017