USVAA

James Adger is a United States Marine Corps Vietnam Veteran. My induction to Art, painting that is, came about through an Out-Patient Art Therapy program for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I can’t tell you how much joy I’ve found in painting. Once I picked up a brush and put paint to a canvas the light of joy and freedom became … Read More

Michael Aschenbrenner is a studio glass artist and veteran, having served in Vietnam as a paratrooper and forward observer with the 101st Airborne Division. He is acknowledged as one of the first in the U.S. to use glass as a powerfully emotive material rather than a strictly decorative medium. Aschenbrenner’s pieces have been described as “mysterious and moving” and “exceedingly … Read More

Shawn D Augustson is a US Army veteran. Shawn D. Augustson is a multidisciplinary artist working in the areas of painting, photography, sculpture and pottery. Having had no professional art training gives him the encouragement and freedom to simply create from his heart. Shawn’s exploration into the arts came after serving in combat with the US Army in Iraq from … Read More

Shawna is a retired, disabled veteran of the Iraq War, serving in the Army for 4 years as a combat medic. Around her seventh month in Iraq, her health took a drastic turn; she began having seizures. Since her discharge from the military, Shawna has found a therapeutic outlet in the ceramics. Her love of the arts has helped to … Read More

Jason Betzing is a visual artist and former tattoo artist with over 20 years of service in the United States Coast Guard. Just as Jason’s service took him to radically different places —from breaking ice in the Great Lakes to patrolling the tropical Caribbean—, his career as an artist has seen him work with motorcycles and the human body as … Read More

I am originally from Nebraska, following High School, I attended a 2 year graphic art school, then decided to join the U.S.Navy. During my five year enlistment I became an Illustrator Draftsman (DM3), and upon release I relocated to Maine. I was missing the comradery of people, I joined the Maine Army National Guard, becoming an illustrator. In 1990 I … Read More

Stephen Boskin is a US Army veteran. He spent his formative years in the South Bronx. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1951, where he attended Pasture Middle School and Hamilton High School. He currently lives in West Los Angeles. Stephen has won several awards at juried art exhibits. His photos have been published in newspapers, on United States … Read More

Paul Bouchard served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War as a Boatswain’s Mate on the USS Ramsey in the South China Sea. The ship that carried me to Vietnam was brand-new, but parts of it were from World War II: the life rafts and its one five-inch gun, which was disabled. We smoked the vintage Lucky Strike Green … Read More

Robert is the last-born son of Sicilian immigrants in East Chicago Harbor, Indiana. He graduated from Highland High School in 1965, and later served in Vietnam with the US Army. Robert attended Purdue University before graduating from Indiana University with a BFA in June 1979. He in 1984 received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. … Read More

Aaron Burks was born and raised in Long Beach, California. In 1995, he turned 17 and joined the U.S. Navy, reporting to his first ship in 1996. Over the next 15 years he served in both the U.S. Navy and the Army National Guard, including two combat tours as an infantryman, and 10 years at sea on three ships as … Read More

Amy Burns is a US Army veteran. She is an acrylic artist from Bethlehem, PA who uses vibrant color and dramatic contract to fuel her passion for the viewer to become still and submerge themselves within her art. Amy’s graphical and linear pieces evolved from an early interest in graphic design as well as her linear style of drawing. As a … Read More

David Carpenter is a Veteran of the United States Navy where he served as a Boatswains Mate about the U.S.S. Frederick LST 1184. At 44 years of age David was diagnosed with PTSD and Schizophrenia and is now a Disabled Veteran. At first art was a form of therapy, and I did not realize until years later that is what … Read More

Ed Carrion is one of those rare artists whose technical talent matches his innate creativity. His paintings are all reflections of his soul. His empathy and wanderlust, his joys and his traumas are seared onto every canvas. Though he shuns artistic labels as stifling, Ed identifies with the concept of symbolism, seeing his works as capturing emotion rather than likeness. … Read More

Alejandro began his journey as an artist in 2011 after serving eight years active duty in the U.S. Air Force as a combat engineer. His desire to help raise his daughter is what brought him back home to Texas. In 2011 Alejandro opened the Vino Dipinte Art Gallery in San Angelo, TX. in 2014 Alejandro’s art began reaching collectors in … Read More

Ken Claes was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, served in the US Air Force, and earned his degree in Architecture from Lawrence Technological University in 1973. While attending LTU, Ken was the first-place recipient of the inaugural and prestigious Michigan Masonry Institute Student Architects Design Competition. At LTU, he also studied watercolor and pastel with R. Darrow Champlin and … Read More

Jim Cohen is a studio metal smith and adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico, teaching Art Metals. Jim took up metal smithing after a career as a lawyer, first on active duty with the Air Force and, after his retirement, with the Air Force General Counsel’s office. Jim’s area of emphasis is … Read More

Lindsay “Bones” Cordero is currently an officer in the United States Air Force and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy where she got an education in absolutely nothing art related. Self-trained and self-representing, Bones is working on writing and illustrating children’s books and as of 2021 is an official Art-O-Mat artist. In 2019 Bones focused her art on mental … Read More

I am an artist and a severely injured Iraq War Veteran. I lost parts of both my arms in 2003 while serving in Iraq as a helicopter mechanic. I started painting as a form of occupational therapy soon after. In 2005 I made a decision to pursue a career as a fine artist. Over the years I’ve managed to gain a foothold in that direction. … Read More