Guitars are made to be played, but in the hands of the Art and Soul group they are for painting on.
Art and music are known to be therapeutic for veterans and emergency services personnel who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As well as being creative outlets, they're a way for veterans to express their trauma, relieve stress, and give the mind some space and relief from "stinking thinking".
Wingham's Art and Soul art therapy group started in 2018 and has grown steadily. A few years later, the Art and Soul music group was started for the more musically inclined.
Now, they have combined, with art group members painting guitars to donate to Guitars for Vets, a not-for-profit organisation that provides guitars and free music lessons to veterans suffering from PTSD.
Through Art and Soul co-founder Jillian Oliver's relationship with the Australian National Veterans Art Museum, Guitars for Vets founder Dave Cox heard about Art and Soul and reached out hoping the group could contribute.
He sent four guitars with the request they be painted with the theme of poppies. The instruments were later returned to him along with a fifth guitar which Jillian "somehow obtained".
"Our guys were pretty excited painting them because it's something different," Jillian said.
It's an arrangement both parties are keen to keep going. More guitars have been sent from Guitars for Vets, and Bass n Blues Megastore in Taree has so far donated six guitars it couldn't fix.
One of those guitars the group donated to Wingham High School as a thank you for the year 12 class raising money for Art and Soul previously.
The current crop of guitars are being painted with the them of peace.
They are not given to veterans to be played - most were already not playable. Instead, Guitars for Vets raises funds by selling or auctioning them so it can source more guitars and provide more music lessons to more vets.
Armed forces veteran Dave Cox said Guitars for Vets has helped up to 450 veterans around Australia.
"We get a lot of donated guitars, and some of them are great, which are usable, but some of them are not," he said.
"So we came up with a program we call Rhythm Art, where we get the guitars painted by volunteers. Jillian's team stepped up and said 'We'd love to do it'. For me, it's wonderful to see these old guitars repurposed and reused again."
For more information about Guitars for Veterans, click here.
To get in contact with the Art & Soul group, click here.
This article first appeared in the Manning River Times.
Julia Driscoll
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times for seven years. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Career highlights have involved environmental stories - bringing the plight of the little known endangered Manning River helmeted turtle to the attention of the public, resulting in wide-spread knowledge in the community and conservation action; and breaking the news of the Manning River ceasing to run for the first time in recorded history.
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times for seven years. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Career highlights have involved environmental stories - bringing the plight of the little known endangered Manning River helmeted turtle to the attention of the public, resulting in wide-spread knowledge in the community and conservation action; and breaking the news of the Manning River ceasing to run for the first time in recorded history.
