{"id":371349,"date":"2025-11-11T10:47:45","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T10:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371349\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T10:47:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T10:47:45","slug":"philadelphia-clay-class-connects-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371349\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia clay class connects veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? <a href=\"#Section1\">Let us know!<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>When Bradford Davis retired from serving in the U.S. Army in 2015, after being injured during a deployment in Afghanistan, he felt lost.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really was flailing because I didn\u2019t have a purpose,\u201d Davis said. \u201cI had significant injuries, I was self-isolating, and spiraling,\u201d he said of the years following his service.\n<\/p>\n<p>Davis had been working in ceramics and clay before he joined the Army, and eventually, he returned to those roots. \u201cThe ceramics community helped me become a functional person again, and I found happiness.\u201d\n  <\/p>\n<p>Davis, an artist in residence at <a href=\"https:\/\/whyy.org\/articles\/philadelphia-clay-studio-sculpture-figuring-space\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Clay Studio<\/a> in Philadelphia, wanted to bring that same opportunity for connection and healing to other veterans. He approached the studio with an idea, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theclaystudio.org\/public-events\/operation-mud-veteran-workshop-program\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Operation Mud<\/a>, a regular workshop for veterans, taught by veterans. Right away, he was met with excitement. \u201cThey were like, \u2018How about we start now,\u2019\u201d he said.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-722290 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/operation-mud-clay-studio-philadelphia-2025-2-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Bradford Davis and Keith Ockimey at a pottery wheel\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\"  \/>Bradford Davis, instructor, Operation Mud (left), with Keith Ockimey, veteran, Operation Mud participant. (Courtesy of The Clay Studio)\n<\/p>\n<p>Each studio class introduces <a href=\"https:\/\/whyy.org\/episodes\/how-veterans-find-healing-after-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">veterans<\/a> to different skills, and sometimes workshops are taught by a visiting veteran artist. But Davis said the workshops are about much more than artistic skill.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really to check in with each other and have fun and see how each other are doing and help each other network and build community,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause that helps combat issues like veteran homelessness, veteran suicide, a lot of what we in the military refer to as statistical issues.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>Davis likes to break up class time with questions about participants\u2019 lives \u2014 from fun questions like what they enjoy about fall to deeper issues around feeling isolated, alone or depressed.\n<\/p>\n<p>Veteran Eric Marsh Jr. said the Philadelphia VA referred him to the program as a way to get him out of the house. He\u2019s enjoyed the community and the opportunity to express himself through art. Another participant, veteran Janie McNeil, said the sense of connection she feels in the group is a lifeline.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNobody understands a <a href=\"https:\/\/whyy.org\/episodes\/veterans-programs-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">veteran<\/a> like another veteran, and if you don\u2019t encounter other veterans, there\u2019s so much stuff that you keep bottled up. So it\u2019s a wonderful thing to have this opportunity to break bread and to just have casual talks.\u201d\n        <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":371350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,178925,1448,2830,1311,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,2512,148904],"class_list":{"0":"post-371349","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-clay-studio","10":"tag-pa","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa","19":"tag-veterans","20":"tag-veterans-day"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115530672867695429","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}