Veterans Art Project

08/27/2026

Missed our August Open House & Raku Night? No worries, we have another one coming up in September. 🔥

Join us on Friday, September 25 from 6:00 to 10:00 PM at the VETART studio in Vista for a night of art, fire, food, and community.

And while we are excited to welcome everyone back into the studio, we also need to be honest about where we are right now.

VETART is at risk of closing due to a lack of funding.

Our volunteers and SkillBridge participants are helping carry so much of the work right now, but we need more support to keep our doors open and continue serving Veterans, Active Duty service members, spouses, caregivers, Guard and Reserve members, and their families.

If VETART has ever meant something to you, or you believe this kind of space should continue to exist, please consider becoming a monthly supporter.

Even $5, $10, $20, or $50 a month can help us keep art, connection, and community available to the people who need it.

Come see us at Raku Night, bring a friend, share this post, and if you can, help us keep going.

📍 2422 Cades Way, Vista, CA 92081
📅 Friday, September 25
⏰ 6:00 to 10:00 PM
🍽️ Potluck, bring a dish to share

Donate here: bit.ly/donatetovetart

Every dollar helps. Every share helps. Every person who shows up helps.

08/21/2026

Tomorrow is the day. 🎨🔥

Join us tomorrow for VETART’s Open House & Raku Night and come see the healing in action.

VETART is more than an art studio. It is a place where Veterans, Active Duty, spouses, caregivers, and Guard & Reserve families come to create, connect, and heal through art.

Right now, we are at risk of closure due to lack of funding, so your support truly means everything to us.

If you have ever wanted to visit, learn more about what we do, or simply show up for our community, this is the perfect night to come by. Being there, bringing a friend, sharing this event, or making a donation all help us keep this space going.

🔥 Watch the fire
🎨 Experience the art
🤝 Connect with the community
❤️ See the healing in action

📅 Tomorrow — Friday, August 21
⏰ 6:00–10:00 PM
📍 2422 Cades Way, Vista, CA 92081
🥘 Potluck — bring a dish to share

No experience needed. All are welcome.

If you can’t make it tomorrow but would still like to support VETART, donations can be made here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=H3PDSAYH4ULNY

Every share, visit, and donation helps us continue showing what healing through art can look like.

08/20/2026

State level advocacy opportunity!! Today, Time sensitive. BHSOAC is discussing the next Veterans advocacy contract.
Probably want to get onto the meeting close to 1:45 pm.
Click on this link

https://bhsoac.ca.gov/connect/commission-meetings/commission-meeting-august-27-2026/

Under zoom access click

When it comes time you have to raise your hand then they will call you to speak, usually for 2 minutes. Speak slowly and clearly.

The prepared statement is below.

Steve

Good afternoon, Commissioners. I’m here today as a veteran and an advocate for the veteran community. My name is ___ and I am __ yrs old and I served in the United States _____.

For many veterans, the journey into advocacy begins with something much more basic: finding a way out of isolation and back into community. Art making can provide that doorway. It creates a place to connect with other veterans, participate without judgment, and begin to feel a sense of belonging again. Through that experience, connection can grow into purpose, and purpose can grow into advocacy. We believe that artmaking and sharing is the deepest form of advocacy because it is the most private of thoughts, emotions and aspirations.

That is why art making is more than an activity. It can be an effective pathway into veteran engagement, advocacy, and leadership.

The outcomes of this work should be anchored to research-backed protective factors against veteran su***de: belonging, purpose, connection, and reduced isolation. In other words leveraging community.

For an isolated or disconnected veteran, the first step may not be attending a public meeting, giving testimony, or navigating a behavioral health system. The first step may simply be sitting down alongside other veterans and making something.
That shared experience can build trust and belonging. From there, veterans can find their voice, share their lived experience, identify barriers, advocate for change, and become leaders in their communities.
If we want to reach veterans who are not connected to traditional systems, we need multiple doorways into advocacy.

(State the following slowly-)

The Commission’s own listening process identified creative modalities as important. I respectfully ask that the Commission carry that finding forward by explicitly including arts-based and creative engagement as an allowable advocacy, outreach, and leadership-development strategy in the Veterans Community Advocacy Program RFP.
Art making can be a doorway from isolation to connection, connection to purpose, and purpose to advocacy.
Thank you.

Please see the full meeting agenda for more details. Call to Order & Roll Call – Information Roll call will […]

08/20/2026

Vetart has a benevity account. Hook us up with the connection. We will send the information.
Thank you

08/17/2026

08/17/2026

Can you donate fifteen dollars a month. Keep the fires burning.
https://share.google/CTh5UIkTzysy7Qy9s

08/11/2026

Word of the day.
Heuristic.
Vetart is searching for donors who can commit to fifteen to fifty dollars a month. We are looking for a thousand artistic warriors. Help us grow. Can you donate monthly? Five dollars a month? Fifteen? Fifty??
Donate https://share.google/wpu8zYfUiS5an6Lb7
Thank you

08/01/2026

Happy Birthday to our Founder & Executive Director, Steve Dilley! 🎉

Today we’re celebrating the visionary behind VETART and the incredible impact he continues to make in the lives of veterans, active-duty service members, their families, and caregivers. Steve’s passion, leadership, and belief in the healing power of art have helped create a community where creativity, connection, and hope thrive.

Thank you, Steve, for your dedication, compassion, and the countless lives you’ve touched through this mission. We hope this year brings you continued joy, good health, and many more opportunities to inspire others.

If you’d like to celebrate Steve’s birthday and help honor the work he has built, please consider making a donation to support VETART. Every contribution helps us continue providing life-changing art programs to those who have served.

❤️ Donate here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=H3PDSAYH4ULNY

Join us in wishing Steve a very Happy Birthday! 🎂🎨

07/26/2026


Donate https://share.google/FUrdlDjVYLg1duI99

🔥 From Fire Comes Renewal. From Community Comes Hope. 🔥

This ceramic mask has just emerged from the kiln—transformed by fire, patience, and the hands of a veteran artist.

At VETART, every piece tells a story. Behind every sculpture is someone rebuilding confidence, rediscovering purpose, and finding community through the creative process.

Art doesn't erase life's challenges, but it creates something equally powerful: belonging.

Today, we need your help to keep the kilns burning.

After 18 years of serving veterans, active-duty service members, military families, and caregivers, our funding has shifted dramatically. We need our community to help sustain this work.

Your monthly gift of $5, $10, $25, or $100 helps provide:
🎨 Clay and materials
🔥 Kiln firings
🤝 Free studio access
❤️ A place where connection replaces isolation

Every donation helps transform lives—one artist, one conversation, one firing at a time.

Help us raise $250,000 to ensure VETART continues to be a place where veterans create, connect, and heal.

🔗 Donate today. Share this post. Become part of the community that keeps hope alive.

Donate https://share.google/FUrdlDjVYLg1duI99

Because sometimes the most important thing we make isn't pottery. It's belonging.

CreativeRecovery Veterans SupportVeterans MentalHealthMatters Belonging KilnLife Fundraiser Donate ArtsForHealing FireToTransformation