Fostering connection: Museum of Fine Arts Access to Art Program

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The 2022 Healthcare for Homeless Veterans, or HCHV, Excellence in Advocacy Award was presented to five members of the Museum of Fine Arts’ Access to Art Program during the VA Boston

Healthcare System’s sixth annual Community Partners Appreciation Ceremony, June 23, 2022, at the Brockton VA Campus.

The award recognized Barry Brown, Rob Dunlavey and Jan Schwaner, volunteers for the Museum of Fine Arts. Also recognized were Jessica Doonan, accessibility coordinator, and Ronit Minchom,

the manager of accessibility from the MFA's Access to Art program. It commended their work in fostering connections that improve the well-being, housing stability and combat isolation of

Boston-area Veterans participating in the Department of Housing and Urban Development - Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, known as HUD-VASH.

“Veterans in the homelessness program were able to attend free, monthly virtual museum visits,” said Natalie Rios, a social worker from the VA Boston HCHV program. “These visits reached

Veterans who were isolated at home due to the pandemic, health or mental health issues.”

The goal of the partnership between the VA Boston HCS and the Museum of Fine Arts is to help Veterans overcome isolation, and build connections with art and the community that will leave a

lasting impact.

“It’s been two years since our first virtual visit to the Museum of Fine Arts,” said Sixto Escobar, an Air Force Veteran. “We experienced a wealth of works of fine art and engaged in

productive discussions about them. As a person with great appreciation for the fine arts, I have found my participation extremely rewarding and fulfilling.”

“This past year, we’ve traveled virtually through European landscapes and come back to photographs of Boston’s Nubian murals in Dudley Square,” said Rios. “Our guides selected works that

mean something to our Veterans. We’ve studied the Harlem Hellfighters, Apache war bonnets, and sculptures by female artists.” She also noted that each tour features art celebrating the

Veterans’ cultural background.

Rios credits the MFA guides for gently encouraging each Veteran’s engagement. Each month, if a Veteran was absent, the MFA team found ways to engage the Veteran at the next tour, invited

Veterans to share what kind of art they wanted to see, and customized visits based on the Veterans interests.