Healing Arts for Veterans program supports service members in November
The City of Georgetown arts and culture program teamed up with Resilient Me: Community Based Resiliency Programs, Austin Classical Guitar, country music artist Wynn Williams, Wag Heaven, and artists Jay Rivera and J. Muzacz throughout the month of November to honor veterans through the arts.
The Healing Arts for Veterans program provides arts components to the Rotary Club of Georgetown’s 2020 Field of Honor that included healing and outreach to veterans, military service-members, and first responders through music, visual art, and community engagement in a public art mural.
The program was created by the City’s arts and culture program to help raise awareness of the physical and mental health issues faced by veterans, service members, and first responders.
The Healing Arts for Veterans music program, “Storytelling Through Music,” worked with veterans William Childress, Bobby Withrow, and John Hill to adapt their stories into lyrics. Those lyrics were set to music by musicians from Austin Classical Guitar and country music singer Wynn Williams.
The songs were performed online by musician John Churchill and in a small, private performance Nov. 7 with Wynn Williams at Cimarron Hills Country Club. Videos of the performances are available at facebook.com/artsgeorgetown.
Artists Rivera and Muzacz helped round out the program with the completion of the public art mural at Wag Heaven, 205 W. Sixth St., Ste. 115, in downtown Georgetown. The mural is a service-dog themed design 
honoring K-9 service heroes, as well as commemorating the Field of Honor, and war dog hero Nemo A534. The mural was installed during the week of Veterans Day, and members of the community helped complete the artwork on Veterans Day. Rivera is also a veteran who served 18 years in the military.
Healing Arts for Veterans Program was supported through grant funding from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as a sponsorship from Wag Heaven.
To learn more about the program, visit arts.georgetown.org.
