Richard Casper
Richard Casper teaches Intro to Art for Veterans at SAIC. Photo: Sara Condo
After surviving a blast from an improvised explosive device in Iraq, Casper was diagnosed with a traumatic left-brain injury and post-traumatic stress. In search of a place to express himself privately, Casper turned to art. “I had so much inside of me that I needed to get out.”
Early artwork by Richard Casper
After graduation from SAIC, Casper set out to start a new organization where he could empower wounded veterans to heal through the arts and music. In 2013, he founded CreatiVets. Through songwriting, visual arts, music, and creative writing, CreatiVets helps veterans foster self-expression that “helps [them] live again.”
Image Credit: Richard Casper and retired Petty Officer Chris Goehner during a CreatiVets songwriting session. Photo: Lukas Augustin, courtesy of Time
The program operates in partnership with SAIC, where veterans are flown to Chicago for three-week summer sessions with Casper at his alma mater. “I sit with each veteran, and they tell me their story for the first time, and I show them what that looks like as a conceptual piece of art,” Casper explained. They explore SAIC’s facilities, such as the woodshop, the metal shop, and the 3D print lab, to translate their experiences into art.
Credit: Entrance to Warrior Brain + Artist Mind, an exhibition featuring CreatiVets participants at SAIC