VisArts Welcomes Veterans from New Community Partner, STAR Program, for On-Site Arts Classes

Richmond, VA. (April 29, 2022) The Visual Arts Center of Richmond has partnered with the Servicemember Transitional Advanced Rehabilitation (STAR) program to bring veterans on-site each season, for skill-building workshops in the arts center’s clay, metals, glass, woodworking, photography and printmaking studios.

This spring, VisArts will welcome a group of 25 veterans on-site from the STAR program, a vocational-based program located in the Polytrauma Transitional Center at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. For their first in-person workshop, 8 participants from the S.T.A.R. program joined instructor Paul Klassett for a 3-hour Raku Workshop. The ancient art of raku firing is a dramatic, exciting and unpredictable approach to pottery surface design.

The Servicemember Transitional Advanced Rehabilitation (STAR) program is a unique program designed for injured Servicemembers and Veterans who require a transitional rehabilitation program in order to successfully return to work and community. The STAR program provides gradated medical care, rehabilitation therapies, mental health support, and progressive vocational rehabilitation. The comprehensive treatment setting is designed to improve physical functioning, optimize health and mental functioning, as well as achieve effective preparation for transitioning to a new career field.

VisArts community partnership programs deliver high-quality arts education and mentoring to over 3,000 underserved and historically marginalized youth and adults in the Richmond region each year. These programs provide free-of-charge arts education experiences that align with each partner or group’s individual goals and needs like reducing social isolation, finding new forms of emotional expression and increasing physical mobility or dexterity. Our partnership programs work with local institutions and community organizations like Richmond Public Schools, The Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center, Peter Paul Development Center, the Faison Center, and more. Programs include: Art After School, serving middle school students in public schools; Make Space, a creative mentorship program for 6th grade girls; adult partnership programs serving economically vulnerable older adults, veterans and adults with special needs; and Engage, our gallery education program serving people of all ages.

About the Visual Arts Center of Richmond: The Visual Arts Center of Richmond (VisArts) has helped adults and children explore their creativity and make art since 1963. Each year, the organization touches the lives of nearly 40,000 people through its classes, exhibitions, community programs,