Scott DeLuzio:    00:00:03 Thanks for tuning in to the Drive On Podcast where we talk about issues affecting Veterans after they get out of the military. Before we get started, I’d like to ask a favor if you haven’t done so already, please rate and review the show on Apple podcast. If you’ve already done that, thank you. These ratings help the show get discovered so it can reach a wider audience. And while you’re there click the subscribe button so that you get notified of new episodes as soon as they come out. If you don’t use Apple podcasts, you can visit DriveOnPodcast.com/subscribe to find other ways of subscribing, including our email list. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio and now let’s get on with the show. Hi everyone, today my guest is Brian Holt. Brian is an Army Veteran who has been expressing his artistic side after getting out of the Army.  He’s on a mission to support Veterans and their mental health through art, which we’re going to get to in just a minute, but before I give it all away, welcome to the show, Brian. And why don’t you, go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. 

Brian Holt:    00:01:06 Sure. I grew up in a small town, Galleon Ohio. In 2005, I joined the Army. I was in the Infantry for about nine and some change. I deployed four times. I deployed three times to Iraq, one time to Afghanistan and basically right around the time that my son was born, my wife and I both decided we’ll switch roles. I kinda helped her out while she was in nursing school.  Once she graduated, she kind of took over the heavy roles. And she is supporting me while I’m in school right now at UTEP, which is the university of Texas at El Paso. I’m in the art department over there. I’m currently going to school to be an art educator. 

Brian Holt:    00:02:00 But beyond that, I am working in two different galleries. Basically my mission so far is not just to be an art educator for kids, but I really am trying to get out there. A  lot of my art speaks to mental health. I’m really trying to share that message with people.  I’d really like to get something going here in El Paso. We have Fort Bliss here. I really like to work with Veterans as well, because art’s just really helped me through a lot of difficult times. And I feel like that might be an option for folks who are struggling, whether they’re in or whether they’re out. A lot of times when we redeploy, they have these two week long deals where they’re trying to decompress and I make jokes because I say, yeah, a lot of those events that they had us doing, there were the team things, but they still were like high intensity, like paintball, climbing mountains.  I just did that in Afghanistan and I’m trying to forget all that stuff. 

Brian Holt:    00:03:12 So I don’t know, I’d really like to get something going here in El Paso, but obviously I kind of started making way with that but COVID hit and that kind of just shut everything down. So right now I’m just really sharing that message from these two galleries I’m in, which is great because the news radio stations have been coming out there and slowly sharing my story. And I’m really hoping that maybe somebody on Bliss hears me and says, Hey, we would like to have you come on over here. 

Scott DeLuzio:    00:03:44 Yeah. That would be great because, like you said, the high intensity things, paintball and mountain climbing and all that kind of stuff might be good for certain people, but there’s other people who might be looking for something else to decompress and unwind and adjust back to a more normal routine and not be that high intensity level type of thing. And artwork, I think is a gr...