FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Warriors: From Survival to Creation — A Veteran Art Exhibit Presented by Mission Belonging at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center
Mission Belonging, a national nonprofit dedicated to reducing veteran isolation and suicide through accessible, community-based expressive-arts programs, announces the opening of its inaugural rotating art exhibit at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Alexandria, Virginia. The exhibition, Warriors: From Survival to Creation, is now on display in the hotel’s main lobby and is open to the public daily.
Curated by Valerie Y. Acosta-González, Warriors: From Survival to Creation brings together six artists—each a Veteran—who reveal the invisible battles that continue long after military service, while affirming the transformative role of art in healing.
This exhibition honors not only the resilience of its artists but also the complexity of recovery itself. Each piece stands as a declaration: that the warrior spirit is defined by the courage to confront one’s own wounds and find within them the will to move forward.
The featured artists—Leroy Brown, Jonathan Tennis, Leslie Hidalgo, Belena Marquez, Vainuupo Avegalio, and Joe Merritt—represent diverse branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and a spectrum of creative voices. Their work spans abstract and figurative painting, mixed media, and sculpture, unified by a shared story of resilience and transformation.
Curator Valerie Y. Acosta-González, a U.S. Air Force Veteran and multidisciplinary artist, describes the exhibition as “a testament to the courage it takes to be vulnerable, to create, and to belong.” Her own creative practice, spanning painting, photography, and ceramics, is grounded in the belief that art can reconnect individuals to community after trauma.
Mission Belonging (formerly Community Building Art Works) was founded on the principle that healing from physical and mental wounds requires a community. Through workshops in writing, visual art, and storytelling, the organization fosters self-expression and belonging among Veterans, service members, military families, and civilians. By engaging in art-making together, participants rediscover shared humanity and purpose—a vital defense against the isolation and loneliness that too often follow military service.
Warriors: From Survival to Creation will remain on view throughout the coming months at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, 5000 Seminary Road, Alexandria, VA 22311. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
For more information about Mission Belonging’s programs and future exhibitions, visit missionbelonging.org or follow @MissionBelonging on social media.
