{
  "id": 20186231,
  "title": "Aiding veterans with the healing arts",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/15/aiding-veterans-with-the-healing-arts",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-15T14:27:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "CBS News",
    "slug": "cbs-news",
    "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aiding-veterans-with-the-healing-arts/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Looming in Charleston Harbor, the USS Yorktown serves as a great, grey reminder of service to country. For the last five years, it has been the symbolic venue for an artist's painting classes for veterans, held on the Saturday before Veterans Day. Artist Mary Whyte leads these classes, attracting about 30 veterans in person and dozens more joining online. Whyte believes art provides a unique connection for veterans, offering them a sense of community and self-reflection. The idea for this project emerged during her seven-year endeavor to paint life-size watercolors of 50 veterans in 50 states, titled \"We the People.\" Since 2019, this exhibition has toured the United States, culminating in its recent stop at the Grohmann Museum in Milwaukee. During her visit, Whyte offered a free painting class to the veterans, who found solace in expressing their trauma through art. One veteran, a Vietnam veteran, found that painting was the only thing that stopped the voices in his head. Another veteran, Carissa DiPietro, who was raped by her recruiter and later lost her daughter to murder, discovered art as a means to cope with her grief. In Milwaukee, Whyte challenged the veterans to paint their combat boots, a self-portrait that allowed them to tell the story of their experiences. Many veterans reported feeling a sense of welcome and connection, with one Navy veteran saying his boots represented \"Welcome home.\" Whyte also hosts video tutorials and a weekly online art muster, encouraging veterans to paint together virtually. She envisions a future \"Great Veteran Paint-Out\" on a Saturday close to Veterans Day, where veterans across the country come together to paint and express their gratitude to the nation for their service.",
  "summary": "With her in-person and virtual painting workshops and online tutorials, artist Mary Whyte teaches veterans to use art to deal with isolation and trauma through her \"watercolor boot camps.\"",
  "key_points": [
    "Artist Mary Whyte leads painting classes for veterans near Charleston Harbor.",
    "Classes attract 30 veterans in person and dozens online each Saturday.",
    "Art provides veterans a sense of community and self-reflection."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}