Artworks that help heal
It looked like most other art exhibits, but the works on display at Fanshawe College were part of a healing process for the artists.
The Veterans Art Exhibit featured creations by former members of the military, first responders, and frontline health care workers who have faced emotional struggles as a result of their work.
James Agesen started the Veterans Art Initiative two years ago, but the display at Fanshawe’s Innovation Village was the first public exhibit, "You end up with one of two things if you spend your career; mental illness, physical injury - or both. Unfortunately, that's the trade-off of serving your country."
Agesen is a former member of the RCMP and the Canadian military. Art helped him deal with depression and alcoholism.
He said the social aspect of the program is also vital, "It brings people together who isolate themselves anyways. When you get out of the service, a lot of people end up isolating themselves. They go from a regimented routine to nothing."
The Veterans Art Exhibit, seen on May 3, 2024, was part of the Veterans Art Initiative started by James Agesen. (Gerry Dewan/CTV News London)
The Veterans Art Exhibit took place on Thursday and Friday, but Ageson is planning other showings, including a return to Fanshawe.
The charitable venture is designed to promote the artist’s continued participation and encourage others to join.
"We put their work online for sale, and at these types of shows,” Agesen told CTV News. “20 per cent goes to the Veterans Art Initiative to buy supplies and rent rooms, and 80 per cent goes back to the artist, which encourages them and also gives them a little bit of an extra income."
This inaugural exhibit was sponsored by Fanshawe College and local Canadian Legion branches.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Board orders deportation for trucker in horrific Humboldt Broncos crash
The truck driver who caused the horrific bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team has been ordered to be deported.
How to keep insects out of your house, according to an entomologist and other experts
Now that temperatures have warmed up even more this spring, you may be anxious at the thought of bugs invading your home or you may already be battling the pests. Here are expert tips on how to keep them away.
Community mourns victims of fatal boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
The three people killed in last weekend's tragic collision between a speedboat and a fishing boat north of Kingston are being remembered Friday.
A woman took her dog to a shelter to be euthanized. A year later, the dog is up for adoption again
Exhausted and short on options after consulting two veterinary clinics, Kristie Pereira made the gut-wrenching decision last year to take her desperately ill puppy to a Maryland shelter to be euthanized.
Group tied to Islamic State plotted fatal Ontario restaurant shooting: Crown
A gunman who is accused of killing a young Ontario man and shooting four of his family members at their small Mississauga restaurant in 2021 was allegedly part of a trio who had pledged allegiance to the listed terrorist group Islamic State, a Crown attorney said in an opening statement in the Brampton murder trial this week.
'Quiet vacationing': Surveys show workers don't use all of their vacation days, play hooky
'Quiet vacationing' is the latest new term to describe the rough edges of office culture, and survey data shows it's widespread among North American workers.
Avian flu: Catch up on spread, risks, and guidance from health experts
After another case of H5N1 avian flu linked to dairy cows was confirmed in a second dairy farmer in the United States, some Canadian experts say the federal government needs to expand surveillance of the virus north of the border.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
UN court order demanding Israel to halt Gaza offensive further isolates U.S. position
A ruling by the top United Nations court ordering Israel to halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah has deepened its disconnect with the United States over an operation that faces mounting international condemnation but that American officials describe, at least for now, as limited and targeted.