Ten years after its founding, MKAF’s groundbreaking Warrior Arts program continues to create connection, calm and community through creativity.
By Zandra Wolfgram
A pen touches paper. A line becomes a curve, the curve becomes a pattern, and before long, a small square of paper has become something intricate, personal and entirely unexpected.
For participants in Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation’s Warrior Arts program, however, what happens while creating the art can matter as much as the finished piece.
This year, MKAF celebrates the 10th anniversary of Warrior Arts, a groundbreaking component of its ArtsReach program founded in 2016 by Melanie Moore, MKAF’s director of education and community engagement. Warrior Arts connects active-duty military service members, veterans and their families with the transformative power of art, particularly those living with traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress and other visible and invisible injuries.
Through tailored workshops and art experiences, Warrior Arts uses creative expression as a therapeutic tool to promote mindfulness, resilience and connection while addressing some of the unique challenges military personnel and their families face. At its heart is a simple but powerful idea: Art can offer a pathway to communication, creative expression and recovery.
A Legacy of Access
The idea is deeply rooted in MKAF’s history. Founded in 1995, the nonprofit organization carries the name and spirit of Destin matriarch Mattie Kelly, a lifelong patron of the arts who wrote poetry, played piano and organ, composed music and supported cultural organizations. Kelly and her husband, Coleman, moved to Destin in 1935 and became prominent business owners and philanthropists in the growing fishing community.
Today, MKAF carries that legacy forward with a mission “to champion access to the arts for all in Northwest Florida.” Its concerts, Festival of the Arts and other public programs help support ArtsReach, the foundation’s community education umbrella serving K-12 students, children and adults with special needs, and the military community.
The numbers tell part of the story: ArtsReach now presents more than 150 programs annually, reaches more than 25,000 participants each year and has served more than 420,000 people through more than 100 schools and partner agencies since 1995.
Moore joined MKAF in 2015 and created Warrior Arts the following year. Under her leadership, ArtsReach has grown from a handful of outreach programs into a robust initiative reaching communities throughout Northwest Florida.
MKAF CEO Demetrius Fuller credits Moore with helping make outreach central to the foundation’s identity. “We’re so fortunate to have somebody of Melanie’s education and arts pedigree to lead the charge for us on outreach, which is essentially the product of Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation,” Fuller said.
When You “Tangle Up,” You Power Down
Warrior Arts has grown to more than 100 programs annually, incorporating visual art, painting, improv and other creative practices. One of its most successful offerings is Zentangle, an easy-to-learn method of creating images from structured patterns, or “tangles.”
Moore, a Certified Zentangle Teacher, describes the focused drawing process as an active form of meditation. “When you tangle up, you power down,” she said. “The act of focused drawing becomes a form of meditation and mindfulness that supports recovery and relaxation.” There are no mistakes — only “mis-tangles.” There is no prescribed finished product. Participants simply begin drawing, one line at a time. That low-pressure approach can be especially meaningful for people accustomed to high-stakes environments demanding precision and control. Moore has seen participants leave sessions calmer, carrying not only a finished piece of original art but a sense of accomplishment.
Few people understand that transformation better than retired Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Charles Burkett. A 2004 helicopter crash left Burkett with a traumatic brain injury, extensive nerve damage and severely limited fine motor skills on his dominant right side. He incorporated Zentangle into his physical rehabilitation, first learning to write with his left hand and eventually retraining his right. Within months, he had regained 80% of his fine motor skills; by year’s end, he had regained full control of his right arm, hand and fingers. In 2022, MKAF sponsored Burkett’s training to become a Certified Zentangle Teacher, allowing a veteran who experienced its benefits firsthand to teach other military members as a peer.
See Warrior Arts in Action
The public can experience that spirit of creativity and connection during MKAF’s 31st annual Festival of the Arts, Oct. 24-25 at the Mattie Kelly Cultural Arts Village in Destin. Throughout the weekend, visitors can stop by the Warrior Arts Tent, meet participants and instructors, view artwork created by veterans and service members and try tangling themselves. On Saturday at 2 p.m., Moore and Burkett will take the Dugas Pavilion Stage for “Tangle Time with Melanie & Chief,” a live Zentangle demonstration.
The free festival features more than 100 artists, live entertainment, demonstrations, children’s activities, food and more. Proceeds support ArtsReach. For MKAF, that creates a fitting circle: Come for the art. Discover what art can do. Then help make it accessible to someone else. Attend the Festival, become a member, volunteer or make a gift. After all, your support keeps the Arts FUNded.
Experience Warrior Arts
Warrior Arts Tent
Saturday, Oct. 24, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 25, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Meet Warrior Arts participants and instructors, explore artwork created by veterans and service members, and try your hand at Zentangle during interactive lessons.
Tangle Time with Melanie & Chief
Saturday, Oct. 24 | 2 p.m.
Dugas Pavilion Stage
Certified Zentangle Teachers Melanie Moore and Chief Charles Burkett demonstrate how simple lines and patterns can become an engaging mindfulness practice.
31st Annual Festival of the Arts
Mattie Kelly Cultural Arts Village, Destin
Admission and parking are free.
Learn more at MKAF.org.
