It began in a papermaking studio in Burlington, Vermont. Drew Cameron and Drew Matott wanted to figure out a way to aid return vets from Iraq to process and assimilate their experience. They experimented with shredding old military uniforms and found they could make paper from it.

This is how the Combat Paper project began.

Since then, the pair has toured Combat Paper throughout the U.S., where soldiers were invited to bring their old uniforms and transform it into paper.

The two Drews rationale?

That this transformative process would aid the soldiers in processing their experience. If the soldier could see how an old uniform, which may have carried negative connotations for them, into something positive, then he or she could see the process of internal transformation as well, via art therapy.

Combat Paper also allowed veterans from all across the country to meet and share their experiences, transformative and healing process in and of itself.

“Most of the time the veterans have never met. It’s amazing to see how much they have in common.”

- Drew Matott

What do you think about turning negative into positive news via art therapy?

We’d love to hear from you!

Art Therapy - Positive News for Vets