is a collaborative art project that seeks to bridge the gap between veterans and civilians by fostering community through the creative process. Our hope is to allow the unspoken, even the unspeakable, a voice by providing warriors with a sacred place for connection, conversation and expression that goes beyond words.

Why do this?

There is a divide between those who served in the military and those who have not. The men and women who went to war are not the men and women who return. They are forever changed by their experience. Those of us who have not experienced war struggle to understand the challenges facing our returning warriors whose wounds are both seen and unseen.

Where can veterans go to be heard and appreciated by the community they protected? Where can civilians go to hear these stories so they can carry their share of the burden of war?

We have seen that a team of veterans and civilians collaborating on a large work of art stimulates community dialogue and serves as a powerful conduit for the voice of veterans, their families and their community.

The Project

What does it take for a veteran to come home? As we explore this question, we are literally transforming our conversations into three sculptures: a dragon, a phoenix and the space in between.

We believe that healing is an inside job. We’re not looking to heal or fix anyone. By design, we have no forms to fill out, nothing to measure and no boxes to check. Instead we are creating a field of expression where each of us on the team can explore our own imagination and creativity with affirming support. Yes, healing can happen within this community, but that healing comes from connection, commitment and personal expression guided by each of us in our own time and in our own way.

View  PHOTO GALLERY of the team in action from 2013 to today.

The Dragon

The first sculpture will be a 16ft tall Dragon. We chose the Dragon to represent the Warrior’s experience in training, in service and at war.

Our challenge as artists:
Can we show the Warrior’s ferocity, focus and confidence? Can we show the depth of their camaraderie, dedication to mission, endurance and leadership? Can we also show the fear, moral conflict, anger, isolation and sense of betrayal which often shows up?

The Phoenix

The second sculpture will be an 18 ft tall Phoenix. We chose the Phoenix to represent the many transformations every warrior faces to return to civilian society.

Our challenge as artists:
Can we show the vigilance, internal strength, and fierceness of character so often required to carry the experiences of war back into civilian life? Can we show both the fear and the potential joy of taking the risk to soften a protected heart?

The Space In Between

When complete, the Dragon and the Phoenix will be placed in a large park facing each other in an eternal stare. It is the “space in between” these powerful symbols that will become our community gathering place. Hopefully it will become a sacred field of expression, where we continue to create, show and perform art, while listening to and sharing our stories of coming home from war.

Our Mission as a Non-Profit

is to build and create a sanctuary, a sacred environment, where veterans can share their stories of going to war, service, and the experience of coming home. To speak the unspoken, to speak the unspeakable. Through the expression of art, the StoryField provides a bridge between the Warrior experience and the civilian community to honor those who served, those living, and their journey of returning. It is a sacred space where non-veterans can come to listen, learn, and share their journey.

DONATE
Checks can be made out to: Warrior StoryField, P.O. Box 942, Niwot, CO 80544.

The Warrior StoryField is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. Contributions are tax deductible under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 170.

We also appreciate donations of tools & equipment, and your time and talents. Check out our FAQs for more information.

Robert Bellows

Robert is an artist. Not by training but by necessity.

As a young man he struggled with seemingly intractable depression and insomnia. He denied the entire issue using force of will to overcome it. Suppression made it worse. Then came the sleeping pills, the drugs and an increasing inability to maintain a steady social presence. He knew something had to change. His answer came, not through therapy, but through art and community.

Through building sculptures and opening his heart to community, he came to understand that for him, “Depression is simply my soul begging for expression.”

Inspiring a team of veterans and civilians to express themselves through art is the essential heartbeat of the Warrior StoryField project. To make this happen, Robert is donating his time, shop, tools, materials and property to guide the Warrior StoryField team through the mysterious expressive process of building a major work of art.

Robert believes that art is a powerful agent of change. Art can move hearts. Art can change minds. Art can bring understanding to things that can’t be understood.

Recent Blog Posts and Podcasts

The Storyfield – and the Space Between

by | Jul 2, 2024

Here’s Ash, on the right, and Cypress standing under the shadow of the Phoenix after a good day of brazing feathers for its tail and wings.The Storyfield – and the Space BetweenBK Loren, a published author and long-time writing teacher, stopped by on her hi-tech...

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Building the Hips of the Dragon

by | Jun 4, 2024

  Back in 2014 we knew we wanted to build a 20 ft tall dragon out of scrap steel. Where do we start? The feet? The eyes? The spine? We chose to start with the hips. We started with a sun-baked cow bone found in our irrigation ditch....

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"Your Warrior StoryField project walks the walk. It’s a place for veterans such as myself, veterans struggling with negative, highly emotional post-war memories. It’s a place of bonding, for establishing comradeship, a place of self-directed healing that can happen through the expression of art. But it’s more than that, much more. It’s also a place for civilians, whether they are family members or other supporters of veterans, or civilians struggling with their own negative emotions, whether its depression, childhood bullying, bad marriages, abuse and other forms of violence, or all of the above."

~ Terry P. Rizzuti, Past Commander, American Legion Post 119   

"All of us here at the Warrior StoryField are stewarding, facilitating, and shepherding an artfully elegant dance of Shadow and Light within a deeply soulful container and context of rich expressiveness. THANK YOU for the light hand of your guidance my brother!"

~ Kangi Topa (Bill), Veteran of Vietnam War   

"I came home and hid out, never told my friends or family what I had gone through, most didn’t know I was in the military much less in Viet Nam. I got involved with mediation and yoga and this spiritual community helped me deal with my past but it wasn’t until I landed at the Warrior StoryField that I found the community that allowed me to trust myself and my fellow vets. This community has saved my life, I can now own who I am, what I saw and what I did in combat. I have learned to trust my fellow veterans and the community at large."

~ Ben Cardamone

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