Photo By Jason Tudor | Robert Gulley sits with one of the sculptures he created in the creative arts...... read more read more
MONTROSE, N.Y. - Vietnam veteran Robert Gulley knows a thing or two about sculpture.
After the Airborne U.S. Army soldier and special forces radio operator returned home from Vietnam in 1970, he matriculated at universities in Illinois and New York using the GI Bill, earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in fine arts. Later, he studied under Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt for two years and took a liking to the art form. President Lyndon Johnson appointed Hunt as one of the first artists to serve on the governing board of the National Endowment for the Arts.
“I’ve always been a sculptor,” Gulley said. “I’ve been at it a long time.”
Today a patient in the VA Hudson Valley Health Care System, Gulley relies on the creative arts therapists to help him rehabilitate from old wounds. His work is getting noticed. A sculpture Gulley produced during those sessions, “Prairie Fire,” was named a first-place winner in the “Combined Kits” category of the 2014 National Veterans Creative Arts Program competition.
Gulley’s sculpture competed among about 5,500 other entries from 129 facilities across the Department of Veterans Affairs. When asked what creating the winning sculpture and continuing to create art meant to him, his response came quick.
“Everything,” the Peoria, Illinois native said. “Art was a main thing for me anyway, but to have this kind of access is priceless.”
Gulley said he’s not alone in the joy of creation. About 300 people utilize recreational therapy at VA Hudson Valley’s two campuses in Montrose and Castle Point, N.Y. Now a 33-year New York resident, Gulley said his fellow Veterans in therapy talk about their ability to create when they are together and when they walk away from the easels and kilns.
“They talk about how much they look forward to coming and how much they appreciate it,” he said.
The “Combined Kits” category comes from work created with different wood craft kits donated by Veteran Service Organizations and others. Gulley’s “Prairie Fire” combines a number of different models, including a Huey helicopter and some under sea life, like coral and fish. Gulley said the term “Prairie Fire” refers to military code for an emergency. It also refers to certain U.S. military reconnaissance operations conducted in Laos in 1969.
Gulley had trouble explaining the origins of the work. “I just can’t verbalize it,” he said.
Melissa Mazzio, creative arts therapist, worked with Gulley regularly during his visits. Julia Anderson, chief of recreational therapy service for VA Hudson Valley said the award is a reflection of the Veterans commitment to the program.
“It gives credence to the amount of dedication and passion that the Veterans have to work, but also to the staff and front-office leadership. Without their support this just doesn’t flourish,” Anderson said. “For a Veteran to use his imagination putting things together to make a cohesive piece that means so much to him and to his fellow veterans … I think that’s what made it a first place winner.”
In the past three out of four years, VA Hudson Valley’s launched a first-place winner or a representative to go to the national-level festival. If he chooses to go, Gulley’s will travel to Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His expenses will be paid for via festival funds.
Many Veterans, Gulley said, would benefit from creative arts therapy. “Don’t waste any time. Come right down and sign up. It’s not for everybody, but a majority of folks would really benefit.”
| Date Taken: | 06.23.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 06.23.2014 14:08 |
| Story ID: | 134079 |
| Location: | MONTROSE, NY, US |
| Hometown: | CASTLE POINT, NY, US |
| Hometown: | MONTROSE, NY, US |
| Hometown: | PEORIA, IL, US |
| Web Views: | 449 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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