ABOUT
The Veterans Creative Arts Program provides a platform for veterans and first responders to express themselves through various art forms. Our program aims to support and empower our veterans and first responders by offering a safe space for creative expression and artistic exploration. Through art, veterans and first responders can share their stories, connect with their peers, and find healing and inspiration. Join us in honoring our veterans, first responders and their creative talents. We welcome you to explore their diverse artistic works and engage with our community. Your support is essential in helping us continue to provide an enriching and supportive experience for them.
MISSION
Veterans Creative Arts Program provides access to creative arts programs for veterans and first responders, especially those experiencing the effects of service related trauma, such as PTSD and traumatic brain injury.
Cammeron Batanides
Chief Operating Officer of VCAP
Cammeron Batanides is an internationally known fine artist and children’s book author/illustrator. She is a teaching artist, business owner, live painting performance and studio artist. Predominantly working in acrylic and watercolor, her works have been featured across the United States, in Jamaica and throughout Canada.
One of 14 artists in the world chosen for a group exhibit sponsored by CBS at the 2013 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in conjunction with the 2013 French Quarter Festival, Cammeron was also invited to California during that same period for a solo exhibition of her work at the legendary Los Angeles Fine Arts Building. She was the first live painter for The Wailers, the first live painting performance artist on the USS North Carolina battleship and at Wilmington’s historic Thalian Hall’s inaugural reggae show. Locally, she has been commissioned to paint multiple public and private murals in the downtown Wilmington and Leland area. Cammeron has recently returned from Washington, D.C, where over 40 of her original works were exhibited adjacent to the Smithsonian at Pepco Edison Place Gallery. Cammeron’s originals were simultaneously displayed in Leland, North Carolina at Leland Cultural Arts Center.
Veterans Creative Arts Program
(910)367-5554 (ph)
Michael Ramos
Teaching Artist
Michael Ramos is an Iraq war veteran, a writer, teacher, book designer, editor, and the art director for Ecotone magazine. His work focuses on dispelling myths about war, warriors, and veterans, and bringing military and civilian communities together through the power of art. You can find his work in Fourth Genre, Slice, PANK Daily, and other places. His essay collection The After: A Veteran's Notes on Coming Home (UNC Press 2024)received a starred Kirkus review and is available now from UNC Press
Meet Gerald Decker
Commander, Leland VFW Post 12196
Gerald Decker is a 4-year Navy veteran who went on four tours to Vietnam between 1968 and 1971. Gerald earned a Master’s Degree from George Washington University. Gerald's career includes nine years as a U. S. Senate staffer, Senior Manager for the National Federation of Independent Business, and a teacher of American History at the middle school level and Political Science at the high school and college levels.
Since 2020, Gerald has co-written two books. The first was about his good friend and WWII veteran Alex Moskowitz. The second, “The Great Lockdown of 2020: An Anthology,” was published by Teen Scene, Inc. in October 2021. He is the founder and publisher of Cape Fear Voices/Teen Scene, an online publication that promotes communication skills among teens and provides a home for adult creative writers in the area.
