Military Arts Connection (MAC)
Two people participating in the Colorado Springs Health Foundation program
Arts-and Intersections:
MilitaryCollaborators:
Location:
Colorado Springs, ColoradoRegion:
Genre/Discipline:
Writing and literaturePopulation Density:
UrbanLarge Intended Impact Area:
County/Multi-County RegionFoundations:
OVERVIEW
A program within a larger initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, called Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, MAC was developed and is overseen by the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, in partnership with Colorado Creative Industries.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
MAC provides an online resource that opens up a whole range of local arts enrichment experiences to area active service military members, veterans, and their families. Funding for the program comes from organizations like Colorado Springs Health Foundation, and, as Cultural Office Executive Director Andy Vick says, “fuels the program to allow military populations to have these experiences at no cost.”
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs Veterans Health and Trauma Clinic is contracted by the Cultural Office to train local artists of any creative media to be facilitators of art “experiences.”