Source: https://art2action.org/veterans-in-tampa/
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 06:02:28+00:00

Document:
Veterans in Tampa | Art2Action Inc.
Join us the 1st Sunday of every month for the Veterans Community Open Mic, 6:30-9pm, Tre Amici @ The Bunker in Ybor City (Tampa)!
Wanna hear how we got started? For the WEDU Arts Plus (PBS) special feature on the Veterans Community Open Mic, click here!
As part of our on-going collaborative work with The Carpetbag Theatre, Inc. on Creative Arts Reintegration (CAR), Art2Action has developed a robust Veteran Arts Program in Tampa, FL. We began in 2013, supporting the development of SPEED KILLED MY COUSIN, a play by Linda Parris-Bailey (see below). Since then, we have offered weekly performing arts workshops at the Psychosocial Rehabilitation & Recovery Center (PRRC) of the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital. We also host a monthly Veterans Community Open Mic, featuring local and national guest artists presented by Art2Action. In Spring 2017, we co-hosted the 4th National Summit on Arts & Health in the Military with Americans for the Arts at the University of South Florida, including the first national festival of performances by, for, about and with veterans; learn more by visiting our R&R Arts Festival page.
This page includes more information on our work with veterans in Tampa, and offers lots of resources for learning … Please explore!
CHRYSALIS: A play about Veterans, Breaking Through, and the Process of Becoming More Human was created in FALL 2017 through a series of Creative Arts Workshops for Veterans at the VA Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center (PRRC) and the University of South Florida (USF). Weekly workshops were open to Student Veterans and Service Members, as well as Veterans in the Tampa Bay community. Workshops included theatre, creative writing, movement, visual arts, digital storytelling and more — facilitated by local and national guest artists, offering opportunities for creative self-expression and arts-based community building. Those interested also participated in a Pilot Study on the impact of the arts for the veteran community, designed in partnership with the USF Psychology Department, and the Center of Innovation on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (CINDRR).
WATCH: Check out our *new* VIMEO Channel on Veteran Arts!
Art in Action at Veterans Open Mic Night — WUSF radio features the Veterans Community Open Mic as part of their “Veterans Coming Home” Series, featuring interviews with Veterans and Peer Leaders, hosted by Andrea Assaf & Linda Parris-Bailey.
INTERVIEW: “An Iraq War Opera Finds A Vein of Empathy” with Iraqi American playwright Heather Raffo & former U.S. Marine Christian Ellis. Art2Action is very proud to have supported the development of this amazing work, as part of THIS Bridge: Arab, Middle Eastern & Muslim Artists Series, in March 2015.
“Angel” — A collaborative improvisation with Art2Action artist Aida Shahghasemi (vocalist) and former U.S. Marine/Gulf War veteran Clifton Williams III (poet), recorded during a workshop at the Tampa Veterans Recovery Center, as part of THIS Bridge: Arab, Middle Eastern & Muslim Artists Series, September 2014.
“WAR” by Marc ‘SoManyStylz’ Reid. Art2Action is pleased to present this special recording, featuring Iraq War veteran Marc Reid & Art2Action’s Artistic Director, Andrea Assaf, with original beat & sound engineering by DJ Cotton. Poem originally published in Dissonant Harmonics of a War-Torn Mind, by Marc Reid.
Art2Action’s programs for the veteran community are made possible by the generous support of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and is sponsored in part by the Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council of Arts and Culture and the State of Florida and the National Endowment for the Arts (Section 286.25, Florida Statutes); and our fantastic partners!
BACKGROUND: In 2012, Linda Parris-Bailey invited Andrea Assaf (Art2Action’s Artistic Director) to direct her new play, Speed Killed My Cousin – about an African American woman soldier who returns from Iraq with PTSD, and battles impulses to commit suicide, resulting from Moral Injury. As part of the development process, The Carpetbag Theatre and Art2Action received a “Partners in Action” grant from Alternate ROOTS. In October 2013, Art2Action and the University of South Florida (USF) School of Theatre and Dance offered an Open Rehearsal of Speed. CBT Residency activities included class visits for students, sponsored by Associate Professor Fanni Green, as well as Digital Storytelling workshops with the veterans at the PRRC. Click here for USF’s Overview of the 2013 Carpetbag Theatre Residency. Also see: “True American Struggle Has Many Faces: Carpetbag Theatre & Art2Action’s USF Residency Wrap-Up” by USF Theatre graduate & active duty service member, Carmin Williams.
Click here for more information about Speed Killed My Cousin & The Carpetbag Theatre!
I love Tampa! I just heard about the conference and I will be there with bells on. How do I sign up for the open mic, don’t want to miss a chance to share with your community. I am the director of Veterans Initiatives @ The Institute for Integrative Health, my program is called Vet Arts Connect – connecting veterans with active arts and nature programs. My Vet Connect website is under construction so there are no veterans issues on my Institutes website yet, but coming soon.

References: Art2
 Art2
 Art2
 Art2
 Art2
 Art2
 Art2

Art2
 Art2
 Art2
 Art2