How veterans around Charlotte found hope, inner peace and community through art

As he was leaving the Charlotte veterans’ clinic one day in 2014, U.S. Army veteran Lewis Patterson noticed a flyer about an art class for veterans. The class changed his life.

“I came right in,” said Patterson, now 72. “I’ve been coming ever since.”

The class Patterson attends is at the McDowell Arts Center in Matthews. It’s one of at least three art programs for veterans in the Charlotte area. Charlotte Art League and the VA Medical Center in Salisbury also offer programs.

For Patterson, the Matthews program helps him deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. It has become a place to find peace, community and support.

“I needed something to focus on to keep me relaxed,” he said. “For me, it works. For a lot of other people that are here, it works.”

Life in Vietnam

A native Charlottean, Patterson joined the Army in 1968 and trained as combat medic. By the end of that year,he was attached to the 51st Medical Battalion in the 44th Medical Brigade and stationed in Long Mai, Vietnam — or “the boonies,” as Patterson calls it.

He worked in a makeshift clinic answering sick calls and visiting the neighboring areas to help the Vietnamese.

While in Vietnam he treated everything from gunshot wounds to snake bites. He even served as an ambulance driver, which also included picking up supplies from area towns and accompanying soldiers on patrol.

“We would go out and see if any of the Viet Cong were trying to ease in range for an attack,” he said. “I had to be a soldier, then I was a medic.”

After two years in the army, he returned to Charlotte with a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.

Finding peace

Returning home from Vietnam wasn’t easy. Patterson had trouble finding a job. He was eventually recruited into a training program for electricians and worked as one in Charlotte until he retired in 2009.

Once he found work, Patterson did his job, came home and pretty much stayed to himself. He slept poorly and didn’t like being around people. The post-traumatic stress disorder he developed from serving in Vietnam made normal activities difficult.

Something unexpected could set off a bad attitude or anger. It was easier for him to avoid situations where he had to deal with people. But in 2014 after he signed up for art class his outlook changed.

“Once I started coming to the class, I felt an inner peace,” Patterson said. “The more I painted, the more I enjoyed. I got to the point where I’d rush home and do what I needed to do so I could start painting, create stuff.”

Eileen Schwartz, the instructor who signed Patterson up for his first class, had formed Art for Veterans in 2013 at McDowell Arts Center in Matthews.

Class normally meets weekly on Wednesdays from 12-3 p.m., September through May. It ends each year with an annual art show — though both the class and art show are on hold now due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The class is free and includes art supplies. About 10 veterans typically attend each week.

Vets ranging in age from their mid-30s to more than 90 years old from various military backgrounds attend, including many with experience in Vietnam. Those who want to join can register over the phone or in person. Participants can use the space during open studio time throughout the week.

“The attitude here is that everyone is welcome,” Schwartz said. “Everyone is capable of creating. We’re here to help them find their personal or unique level of creativity.”

‘Speak your vision’

Like McDowell Arts Center, Charlotte Art League (CAL) also offers healing art classes for veterans. They focus on providing time to facilitate communication and regain fellowship with people who have shared experiences. Participants use various forms of art to connect, said Jim Dukes, who takes over as executive director at CAL on June 1.

Dukes plans to incorporate art classes, specifically for veterans, into CAL’s regular schedule.

The program kicked off in early March with “Speak your vision.” Dukes partnered with local poet Jah Smalls to provide veterans with a three-part art experience – photograph Charlotte, write a poem about one image, and present the photo and poem at an event open to the public.

Before the coronavirus disrupted plans, four veterans went out with Dukes to take photographs. Once stay-at-home orders are lifted, “Speak your vision” will be a free monthly program for veterans.

“It’s extremely powerful to be able to incorporate vision with words and expression,” Dukes said, “and allowing people to tell what’s inside, what they’re keeping bottled up inside with people who understand, who have been there, who have felt it.”

VA programs

The VA Medical Center in Salisbury hosts the Creative Arts Festival each February. Inpatient and outpatient veterans receiving care at Salisbury, Charlotte or Kernersville VA facilities can compete in areas of art, creative writing, dance, drama and music. First place winners go on to a national competition.

The hospital also offers a free art workshop on the second Tuesday of the month for inpatient and outpatient vets enrolled with the Salisbury facility. Classes vary from karaoke, yoga to art, matching the competition areas of the Creative Arts Festival.

“We have found that it (art) helps veterans express themselves,” said Brittany Plummer, a recreational therapist at the VA Medical Center in Salisbury and a military spouse. “Veterans sometimes have a hard time expressing either what they experienced in the military or sometimes they don’t want to express it, hold it back, bundle it up, so instead of having to verbalize what they’re feeling, they’ll use art instead to verbalize their feelings.”

Feeling better

For his art work Patterson uses acrylic paint with mixed media. He incorporates textured cloth which he finds at thrift shops. Animals and nature are prominent in this artwork. Inspiration comes from magazine pictures and a calendar of dogs he owns.

“I just like drawing nature, unadulterated stuff,” Patterson said. “Nature, animals, birds. I just get a kick out of drawing them.”

When Patterson’s working on a project, he gets so absorbed, he may not get much sleep trying to finish it. Art connects him with others: veterans in the class, family members, especially his 7-year-old grandson who has shown an interest in drawing.

For Patterson, coming to classes in Matthews brings inner peace, a sense of community.

“You can take all those negative things and focus on something in your art,” he said. “Plus, you’ve got good people around you. They support you. You have one of those ‘off’ days and they may start talking and bring up something that is humorous. They make you laugh. Now you’re feeling better.”

This story is part of an Observer underwriting project with the Thrive Campaign for the Arts, supporting arts journalism in Charlotte.

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This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 8:50 AM.