EASTHAMPTON — As the invisible wounds of war continue to take a toll on veterans, one city native is fighting a mission off the battlefield through art therapy.

For the past seven years, Steve Jones has been providing veterans, active duty members and their families with an art studio space, art tools and materials, and instruction to create art through his nonprofit organization, Warrior’s Art Room.

In June, his operation relocated to Keystone Building in Easthampton and expanded to include a gallery space.

“This space is a fulfillment of what my dreams and aspirations were for the Warrior’s Art Room,” said Jones.

How it all started

A resident of Russell, Jones understands the struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder firsthand as an Iraq war veteran, having served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

Though Jones felt he had adapted to everyday life after years of military service after returning home, roughly three years ago, he started experiencing feelings of hopelessness, sadness and depression. As he reflected on other friends who were affected by suicidal thoughts or had died by suicide, he grew concerned for his own mental health.

In an effort to figure out what was happening to him personally, as well as to help other veterans, Jones said he went back to school at Holyoke Community College with a goal of becoming a clinical psychologist.

As part of his humanities requirement, he opted to take a drawing class and soon learned he had a knack for it. That class led to him joining a painting class with now-former instructor Dean Nimmer, who Jones says was “instrumental” in helping his art progress.

During class one day, Nimmer taught his students to paint with feeling and emotion, using an exercise that involved Jones defocusing his eyes and allowing his mind to try to think of what it’s looking at. The image he pulled out, without consciously meaning to, was of his first casualty evacuation, which entails the transport of those that are wounded in combat zones to a medical facility to receive care or treatment. The image, he says, even surprised him after he’d completed it.

“I had buried that memory. I didn’t know if he lived or died, but I got him off of that field and to the hospital and then I never talked about it,” he said. “What I found when I painted that picture, it erased all those feelings of hopelessness and depression. … It is because of this piece that the Warrior’s Art Room was created.”

The acrylic and charcoal piece created through a free flow stream of consciousness ultimately enabled Jones to heal from the struggles caused by acts of war.

The painting also shifted his course a bit from no longer pursuing a career as a clinical psychologist. While he did graduate with an associate degree in psychology from HCC, Jones went on to graduate from Cambridge College with a bachelor’s degree in human services and a minor in art therapy.

In 2016, he founded the Warrior’s Art Room and held open studio sessions in a room at the now defunct Westfield Alliance Church. Since then, more than 1,000 participants, ranging in age from preschool to 90, have taken part in the Warrior’s Art Room.

“You go from having everything in your life dictated to you — what time you get up, when you’re eating, what you’re eating, what you’re doing — and then suddenly, that tight group of friends that you trained with, went to war with, fought, bled and cried with aren’t there anymore,” he said. “And now you’ve got some guy at a job you had to get sitting next to you that has no idea what you’ve been through. So, we created a safe, therapeutic environment for veterans, their families and active duty service members to create art and have camaraderie, and a sense of belonging again, at the Warrior’s Art Room.”

Ssgt. James G. Wheeler Memorial Art Gallery

From the beginning, Jones envisioned having a space to display the work done by veterans and their families, but space just wasn’t in the cards at the time he first established the nonprofit.

After originally setting up in a room at the Westfield Alliance Church, the Warrior’s Art Room moved to a slightly larger space in an old mill building in Westfield. Still, the space was not large enough to accommodate any kind of display of the artist’s work.

More recently, Jones, who was named Easthampton’s director of veterans’ services, learned of Suite 101 in the Keystone Building becoming available and decided to make the leap. The city is also home to more than 1,400 veterans.

“Part of the reason for our move to Easthampton is to be close to a large community of artists where veterans and their family members can learn from and be a part of,” he said. “That’s really important to us in our journey as veterans — to not only create art but to be part of a community that is welcoming and supportive.”

The new space is wheelchair accessible and more than 1,700 square feet, providing ample room for both an art studio as well as a gallery space.

On June 9, the nonprofit hosted an open house and formally dedicated the art gallery in the memory of Ssgt. James G. Wheeler, who Jones served with. Wheeler was 38 years old when he died by suicide.

Together with his wife, Brenda, a registered nurse and Air Force reservist, and their daughter, ShyAnne, an Army reservist, along with volunteers, Jones will operate the space five days a week. While the gallery space is open to the public Monday through Thursday, 5 to 8 p.m., and Friday, 9 a.m. to noon, the art studio space is open only to veterans, active duty service members and their families.

In addition to painting instruction, the Warrior’s Art Room will offer several other workshops on a number of mediums, including glassblowing, pottery, photography, creative writing, music, and dance. All workshops and materials are free.

“We have instructors that will help you make whatever type of art you want. If there’s something that we don’t have, we’ll hire someone to come teach,” said Jones. “Creating art should be fun and relaxing, not daunting and taxing. The goal is that the participants trust in the process and learn to enjoy creating something unique, personal, and new.”

For more information about the Warrior’s Art Room, visit warriorsartroom.org or call 413-627-8170.

Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.]]>