Featured Artist

Each month the VAC board will select a featured artist. This Artist will have their work displayed at the front of the Gallery, and will donate one piece of artwork to be actioned off during first Friday art walk. The proceeds from the auction go directly to the VAC to support our continued projects. This months Featured Artist is

In 1973, Rael joined the Marine Corps. He soon found himself in Egypt, part of a U.S. response to an escalating Arab-Israeli conflict. Operation Nimbus Moon involved clearing unexploded ordnance from the Suez Canal, a critical waterway that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.

With an honorable discharge, the Marine became a teacher but says he remained “a closet artist” until 2010, when he was commissioned to paint a mural. He had never used paints but accepted the challenge to focus on transitioning his childhood talents into adulthood. It had felt like a huge leap.

Rael’s wife pushed him to let his talents mature, then showcase his artwork. A friend introduced him to VFW Post 1 in Denver, one of the country’s oldest Veteran service organizations. The post’s Veterans Arts Council hosts one of the largest galleries in Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe.

Inspired by the stories of friends and family, Rael worked on a Vietnam War series of paintings for the Veteran gallery. He didn’t serve in Vietnam but found healing in painting for those who did.

“Art is a means of therapy and a way to heal,” says Rael, explaining how it manages PTSD symptoms. “It helps me escape some of the things that I went through during my time in service. I forget about that world and go into my own world of expression, where I can just be me.”

That’s the world in which he feels most comfortable.