Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network works to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as well as their families and caregivers. Read more about us.

Young white man in a U.S. Army uniform sits outside playing a guitar.

Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network

Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs that seeks to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as well as their families and caregivers.

Creative Forces places creative arts therapies at the core of patient-centered care at clinical sites throughout the country, including telehealth services, and increases access to community arts activities to promote health, well-being, and quality of life for military service members, veterans, and their families and caregivers. Creative Forces is managed in partnership with Civic Arts, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, and Mid-America Arts Alliance.

Learn more about Creative Forces
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Healing the Invisible Wounds of War

Creative Forces: Healing the Invisible Wounds of War was an interactive online exhibition of 45 pieces of visual art, music, and performances by military service members and veterans who are current or former participants in the Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network.

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Creative Forces programs

A white male with short brown hair wearing a Marines military uniform seated while holding a paintbrush and painting.

Clinical Program

The Creative Forces Clinical Program brings creative arts therapies to military patients and veterans who are receiving care at Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs facilities across the nation.
A group of performers on an outdoor stage. Eight people are standing with their hands or first in the air while two men kneel beside a performer in a wheelchair.

Community Engagement Program

The Creative Forces Community Engagement Program supports community-based programs and activities that enable military-connected people to experience and create art.
A dance therapist and her patient are shown walking in profile in a clinic. The patient has an artificial leg and is wearing black shorts.

Impact

Across our programs, Creative Forces invests in research and evaluation to understand the impacts and benefits of creative arts therapies and community engagement opportunities for military-connected people.
A white woman with long dark hair wearing a multi-colored red floral shirt is standing and looking down at a white woman with blond hair who is seated and wearing a military uniform. The seated woman is looking down while holding a paintbrush and painting. There is art on the walls and art supplies in the background.

Explore our Clinical Publications Inventory

Creative Forces has published 30 peer-reviewed research papers covering various topics related to creative arts therapies in a clinical setting. We have made all publications available free of charge for any researchers, CATs, or others interested in learning more.

Clinical Peer-Reviewed Publications Inventory
Black and white image of a white male with short dark hair wearing a t-shirt with an image of President Lincoln while looking to the right. There is a historic military plane in the background.

From Drills to Dance

Stories that vibrate in the bones

Exit12’s mission is to heal the veteran and military-connected community, educate civilians, and advocate for veterans' issues. Through movement workshops, performances, and presentations, Exit12 investigates the military experience. Programs explore the service member, the family, the perceived enemy, shared humanity, homecomings, and trauma.

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A collection of military memorabilia, patches, and medals sits on a white shelf. One patch reads Puget Sound Honor Flight, another says Improvise Adapt Overcome. A framed photo of two people is in the background.

Path with Art: Reimagining a Way Forward

From singing to visual art, veterans use creative expression to transform their lives

Path with Art, a nonprofit organization in Seattle, Washington and a 2022 Creative Forces Community Engagement grant recipient, helps veterans find a way forward through creative expression.

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Meet the clinical team

Through the Creative Forces Clinical Program, creative arts therapists, known as CATs, provide creative arts therapies for military and veteran patients. Therapies are provided in clinical settings at Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities and through telehealth.

A group of people making silly faces and gestures. Some people are standing, and others are kneeling.
Creative Forces creative arts therapists and research colleagues having fun during the State-of-the-Science Summit 2023: Advancing Creative Arts Therapies Research for Military-Connected Populations. Photo by Santina Protopapa
Meet the clinical team

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