Each year, Veterans and the Arts Initiative workshops are taught by an expert group of instructors. This spring, we’re proud to welcome back Valerie Acosta-Gonzalez, U.S. Air Force Veteran, artist, and assistant with the Veterans and the Arts Initiative, who will be teaching a Gel Printed Journal Series (2/11, 2/18, 2/25).
Acosta-Gonzalez served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years before retiring in 2022. A self-taught visual artist and published photographer, she works across a wide range of mediums, including acrylic, gouache, watercolors, pencils, pens, clay, and wood. Her work has been exhibited at the Arches Gallery at the Workhouse Arts Center in Virginia, and she is also a DoD-certified Master Resilience Trainer who is passionate about teaching resiliency skills that support mental health and foster happiness. We reached out to Acosta-Gonzalez to learn more about her journey and creative practice.
You’ve worked with a wide variety of mediums (painting, clay, wood, photography, etc.). What draws you to such a broad spectrum of artistic expression rather than focusing on just one medium?
AG: I am an incredibly curious person. I think this leads me to wanting to learn as much as possible about everything that interest me, which in art is almost everything. I also find that different mediums can express different feelings. Working with clay is grounding and it’s very physical so it helps regulate my nervous system more than painting with watercolors would. I love to explore mediums, try them, combine them, and use them in a variety of ways. Photography is quiet and pensive, and working with wood can be cathartic and rough. So I use whatever my expression needs for the piece I am making.
As a current George Mason School of Art student, how has your academic experience at George Mason informed the way you design workshops?
AG: I think it has allowed me to be more well-rounded in how I teach my workshops. I have more technical knowledge that I can bring, but I also allow more room for exploring now. The most important thing art school has done for me is push me to the edges of creativity, and that is something that I want to bring with me for my own students.
How does being a Veteran add a different perspective or depth to your approach to art and community engagement?
AG: Being a Veteran certainly gives depth to my approach to art. Sometimes the workshops I conduct are about creating a piece or exploring a process, but sometimes the workshops can just be about sharing time with others in a creative community. In my own art practice, being a Veteran adds a layer of complexity to some of my projects. I navigate Veterans’ spaces in a different way now and I find connection through art with those communities.
How do you create a sense of safety and belonging in a workshop, especially for people who don’t see themselves as “creative”?
AG: This is a great question. Creating a sense of safety starts with being honest about the expectations. I never tell people what to make. I show them a skill and I let them do what they want. I offer guidance and support when it is needed, but I never tell a participant how to create. The sense of belonging almost happens naturally when you accept people as they come. As long as the expectations for a respectful environment are clear from the beginning, then people feel safe to create. If someone doesn’t think of themselves as creative, then I invite them to play and be curious about a new process, and it almost never fails that they will enjoy the experience of creating and not place so much importance on the piece that is created. This leaves the door open for them being even more open the next time they come.
What would you say has been your favorite aspect of working with the Veterans and the Arts Initiative?
AG: My favorite aspect of working with the Veterans and the Arts Initiative is seeing the inevitable connection that happens when someone participates for the first time and after a few minutes of insecurity, they take off on a creative journey that I get to witness. I’m there to be a guide but eventually I become a witness to them entering this community and taking their place in it.
Registration for Acosta-Gonzalez’s Gel Printed Journal Series is currently open. Register early to secure your spot for an opportunity to learn from a Veteran artist whose work and teaching celebrate creativity.
Additional spring 2026 opportunities to get involved with Veterans and the Arts Initiative workshops:
- Veterans Virtual Guitar Workshop Series (Level I, Level II):
The guitar workshops are at capacity and are no longer accepting registration. - Empowered Legacy Workshop Series: Preserving Veteran Stories Through Artifacts (3/5, 3/12, 3/19): Retired U.S. Coast Guard Veteran and professional archivist Tina Claflin teaches participants how to preserve a military service history using the collected artifacts of service.
- Smartphone Photography Workshop: Basic Landscape (3/26, 4/2, or 4/9): Learn how to capture the world around you in this one-day workshop led by Thuy Senser, adjunct professor in George Mason University’s School of Art and Design.
- Ukulele Workshops (5/5 and 5/7): Beginner ukulele players are invited to try the ukulele in a two-day workshop series led by Glen McCarthy. Participants must attend both workshop dates.
- Slow Stitch Collage Workshop (5/11): Join Emily Fasick, art educator and program assistant for the Veterans and the Arts Initiative at Potomac Library for crafting a meditative fabric collage that you can complete at home.
- Dot Mandala Workshop (5/16): Artist and educator Hiral Joshi shares techniques for creating intricate, expressive mandala designs.
We also invite you to join us for this special concert: American Festival Pops Orchestra: Celebrating America’s 250 Years! (4/11). Enjoy a program with “Rhapsody in Blue” by Gershwin and works by Copland, Sousa, and John Williams, while paying tribute to the Veterans who have defended this great nation for two and a half centuries. Limited free tickets are available for Veterans and Servicemembers with ID (up to two tickets each) in person at the Hylton Center Ticket Office.
Spring 2026 workshops and events are FREE to Veterans, Servicemembers, military family members, and military caregivers. For more information and to register for Veterans and the Arts Initiative workshops, visit HyltonCenter.org/veterans.