Gianna Gonzalez’s grandfather, a Vietnam War veteran, took her to see the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall in September 2013 when it came to the Valencia Town Center mall. That visit prompted her to read up on the history of the war, to learn more about her grandfather, and to create artwork from that.
Those who serve the country have made quite an impact on Gonzalez, a Saugus resident and 21-year-old student at California State University, Northridge. And so, when she was tasked to host an event as part of a school leadership program, she devised a plan and partnered with the Santa Clarita Veteran Services Collaborative to offer Veteran Painting Day on Sunday at Hello Subaru in Valencia.
“I’m in an honor society, and I’m in a process right now for leadership, and one of the things that’s a part of my leadership process is I have to host an event,” Gonzalez said. “I have to learn on my own to have that form of leadership. So, I had to make the event from something that I do, from my passion. My passion is art. I thought of the idea to give back to the community — to our veterans, to help them de-stress because of post-traumatic stress disorder. Art’s a good form of therapy.”
Gonzalez brought the idea of veterans painting birdhouses to her mother, Julie Martinez, who’s an executive administrator for Hello Auto Group. Martinez was thrilled with the idea and thought the dealership would be, too. “I talked to my operating owner, and I said, ‘I need a venue.’ And he’s like, ‘We’re closed on Sundays. Let’s do it here.’”
The dealership, Martinez added, had previously worked with the Santa Clarita Veteran Services Collaborative, a group of business members, nonprofit organizations and individuals who care for the interests of veterans and their families. And so, she brought the idea to the collaborative, to see if veterans might be interested in participating in a painting day, and a partnership was born.
Gonzalez purchased all the birdhouses and the painting supplies. She also provided free coffee and doughnuts. About 20 people — veterans and their families — showed up between 8 and 11 a.m. Sunday to create art.
Several banquet tables positioned in the center of the main showroom offered workspace for veterans to come and work, though those who participated didn’t consider it work at all.
United States Marine Corps veteran Gerardo Reyes, of Newhall, who served in Iraq in 2003 and ’04, said he’s always trying to keep his mind busy. Sunday’s event fit that bill.
“I think it works when you’re concentrating on something else rather than on something you’re not supposed to be thinking of,” he said. “For me it works.”
He said he studied architecture and even tried the performing arts to keep his mind on positive things after he came back from Iraq. The arts, he said, has been a great way to do that.
U.S. Air Force veteran Jeff Stabile of Santa Clarita seemed very serious about his project. He brought in a picture of an American flag that he used as a model to copy onto his birdhouse.
And Gonzalez’s grandfather — the one who took her to the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall — was at the event with his wife of 55 years and another one of his daughters, each painting birdhouses of their own.
A U.S. Army veteran, Gonzalez’s grandfather said the war is something that stays with him, adding that he, like Reyes, likes to stay busy. Painting birdhouses on Sunday accomplished that goal.
He spoke about experiences he had in the war that are not so healthy to hold onto.
“You didn’t have to be on the front line. It (the fighting) came to you,” he said. “We got hit with mortars, and I lost some friends to friendly fire. That took a toll on me. But you just did what you had to do, and then you came home.”
But his homecoming wasn’t a welcome one like those sometimes depicted in movies, he said. People at home called returning soldiers “baby killers,” probably a response, he said, to Army Lt. William Calley who, on March 16, 1968, had been responsible (and later convicted by court martial) for the murder of unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in what was called the My Lai massacre.
Gonzalez’s grandfather spent 13 months in Vietnam. He said he’s shared much about his time in the military with his granddaughter. Taking her to the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall seemed to have an impact on her, and he said he was happy to see how she’s responded to that with her art and with her care for veterans.
Gonzalez showed a picture on her cell phone of a painting she made that was inspired by her grandfather and other veterans. It depicted military people from the Vietnam War, World War II and Afghanistan. She said it’s missing someone from the Korean War, though.
“I used the colors of his (her grandfather’s) Vietnam things to make it,” she said.
She added that she has other military-themed art pieces, as well. That kind of artwork is something she just likes to create.
Gonzalez is studying illustration and prop design at CSUN. She hopes to one day illustrate children’s books or maybe even make movie props. But art is what drives her and is calming to her, just as it seemed to be calming to the veterans and their families on Sunday.
Albert Rodriguez, president of Santa Clarita Veteran Services Collaborative and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said this was the first time the group had done something like the Veteran Painting Day. He hoped it wouldn’t be the last.
“We’re trying to do something besides just coming to the vet center and getting food,” he said. “Something like this, with artwork, relaxes our brains, our minds. Maybe we can do something like it once a month.”
