Mission Belonging
Mission Belonging brings together military, veteran, and military-connected participants to experience self-discovery and expression through poetry and visual art in a safe community space. Through recurring experience, participants make connections and build a community that counteracts loneliness and social isolation. An annual celebration and public performance allows veterans, military, and military families / caregivers to find their voice and experience the power of being witnessed.
Online Visual Arts Workshops
Free, Virtual, & open to all.*
Visual Arts Workshop with Veterans Artists Valerie Acosta, Shaun Smith, Joe Merritt, & Other Special Guests
📅 Every Wednesday evening at 7 pm ET
Join Veteran Artists, Valerie Acosta, Shaun Smith, Joe Merritt, or one of our special guest artists to learn new art techniques on Wednesdays at 7pm EST. Come hang out in a collaborative group setting and bring what materials you have. No experience necessary! See what Valerie, Shaun, & Joe have planned in their next workshop by visiting our Events Calendar.
Online Creative Writing Workshops
Free, Virtual, & open to all.*
Creative Writing Workshop with author Seema RezaÂ
📅 Every Friday at 12 pm ET
Join us for a generative creative writing workshop where we use the written and spoken word to find healing and self-discovery together in a welcoming, safe community. Open to all voices. No experience necessary. To register and learn more, click on the individual events below.Â
Comedy Writing Workshop with writer Amelia Bane
📅 On the 4th Tuesday of each month at 12 pm ET
In Partnership with Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Easterseals & The Up Center
Join comedian Amelia Bane for a comedy writing workshop. Give yourself a break from your routine and take some time to laugh in community. Each workshop, we will read a humor piece and react to it together. After some discussion about technique and what makes comedy writing work, we’ll write our own pieces. We’ll come together at the end of the hour to hear a few participants share their work. You never have to share if you’re not in the mood. Come write with us or just come laugh with us! Open to all, and no experience required.
Creative Writing Workshop with author Ben Weakley
📅 On the 4th Tuesday of each month at 12 pm ET
In Partnership with Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Easterseals & The Up Center
Join us for a generative creative writing workshop where we use the written and spoken word to find healing and self-discovery together in a welcoming, safe community. Open to all voices. No experience necessary.
Military Voices
Free, Virtual, workshops for Active Duty Military, Veterans, & Military Families*.
Military Voices: Writing Workshop for Active Duty, Veterans & Military Families with Kevin Basl in Partnership with Blue Star Families
📅 On the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of each month at 3:30 pm ET
It’s time to tell your story. Blue Star Families has partnered with Community Building Art Works (CBAW) for a virtual creative writing workshop. Writing is a powerful tool for communication, self-discovery, and reflection. Together over Zoom, we’ll read a short piece of writing, see what makes it work, and use it to enter into our own stories. No writing experience required—if you can think, you can write.
For our complete, current, and detailed schedule of all Mission Belonging workshops, click here.
*CBAW Programs are intended for participants 16 years of age or older.
Mission Belonging is funded in part by Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs that seeks to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as well as their families and caregivers. Creative Forces is managed in partnership with Civic Arts, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, and Mid-America Arts Alliance.
For our complete program calendar, visit our Events page.
