You can ORDER
Latina Warrior NOW & Info on November 2023 Book Launch!!
Latina Warrior is Col Lisa Carrington Firmin's collection of 50 poems and prose in which she weaves a lifelong journey of her deeply personal, intense, explicit, and sometimes humorous expressions that Maj Christina Helferich-Polosky was so honored to have been asked to illustrate - it is a unique collaboration of art and poetry between two female bronze star veterans. Find out more information by clicking here:
Welcome to
WoundedNotWorthless.com LLC
An Online Art Gallery Collective
Showcasing Female Military, Veteran and Wounded Warrior Artists
My name is Major (Retired) Christina Helferich-Polosky, and I was 100% disabled and medically retired by the US Army in 2009 because of multiple physical and mental injuries and illnesses I suffered after 11+ years of successful active-duty service as a Transportation and Information Operations Officer. Most of my disabilities were later attributed to unknown chemical, environmental and burn pit exposures that occurred during my combat deployments to Kuwait/Iraq (OIF) in 2003 with the 7th Transportation Group (Forward) out of Fort Eustis, VA where I was awarded the Bronze Star and Bagram, Afghanistan (OEF) in 2008 with CJTF-101 out of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from Fort Campbell, KY where I was MEDEVACd home after becoming seriously ill several months into my deployment.
But some injuries—some wounds and abuse—I buried deep and couldn't bring myself to talk about—or report, until very recently. Out of those dark moments, I turned to art as a way to express what I could barely say out loud:
"I may be wounded, but I'm NOT worthless!"
Thus, as part of my specific healing process, I created this free online art gallery cooperative WoundedNotWorthless.com LLC for female military, veteran, and wounded warrior artists, like myself, as a source of inspiration and empowerment as we each find our own true artistic vision and voice. I invite all female military related artists to join this site for mentorship, guidance on how to write and develop their own artist statements, as well as just discovering a safe space to share works and brands within a galvanized network of support.
Please join me in helping to support, promote, and empower these artists!
We may be wounded, but we refuse to consider ourselves worthless any longer.
And now is the time!
Can we please sit down and have an honest conversation without being marginalized again by being labeled just another group of angry females? Our experiences matter and they are all worth sharing! From the wonderful to the awful. We matter, our art matters and we are not alone. There are other female military members, veterans and wounded warriors using art in similar ways to me and it is time we shine a light on us all; so:
CLICK HERE TO EXPLORE OUR AMAZING ARTISTS' GALLERIES
Art helps me create a new narrative by which my invisible wounds inspire, instead of impede me.
Visionary Artist, Healer, Veteran.
Muralist, Painter, Scenic Artist, Curator.
https://linktr.ee/VeronikaRose
Fine Art Photographer who transforms war memories into visions of peace and truth.
I believe that everyone is creative and it only takes one spark to lead a person to their passion.
Creating is something that has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.
Inspired to focus on nonprofit and inclusive arts initiatives, AnnMarie founded UnitingUs.org in 2020 for veteran artists in her community.
Her poetry is deeply personal, an intimate reflection into the invisible wounds of MST, PTSD, trauma, hardship, and combat.
https://www.lisacarringtonfirmin.com/
https://www.lisacarringtonfirmin.com/speaking-request-consulting
Contact Wounded Not Worthless
Wounded Not Worthless Online Art Gallery Collective
Now Stationed in Carlisle, Pennsylvania!
Are YOU a Female Military / Veteran / Wounded Warrior Artist?
Contact me NOW! I'd love to get you signed up on the site and have your art displayed for all the world to see! I can personally help you draft your first or fortieth artist statement and help you submit whatever type of art you do into whatever type of exhibition you are hoping to get into - or if you just want me to link your art to your own, already established, online store and promote your brand and your wares, I can do that too! We do it all here - BLUF: I am here to support, promote and empower you to achieve your artistic and personal goals. Period. Whatever they may be and however they may change over time.
Just send me a quick email message here and I will respond to you as quickly as possible; this is a one woman show, but I will get back to you. You are important, your art is important and what you have to say is important and needs to be heard. I want to help you create and achieve and we can do it together. This is also the time to let me know what type of assistance you may need as well. I will share whatever information and connections I have and sit down with you and see what exhibitions I have coming up that we can collaborate on and what would fit in with your schedule and pass on knowledge of other exhibitions happening with other veteran organizations across the nation that you may be interested in as well! Networking is key and we all can help each other a lot more than we know more times than not. Whether you are just starting out or a fully established artist, there is a place for you here at Wounded Not Worthless.
Thank you for taking the time to look through this online art gallery - hopefully you can visualize your space here too; and remember, while this is not a non-profit, it is a general public benefit business created for female veteran artists like you and me, so I will never charge or take any commission from you to help you on this site or with your projects. I also strive to help you monetarily, when I can, with your costs related to exhibitions and projects associated with our WoundedNotWorthless.com, LLC collaborations. The only profits I make off this site are from the sale of my own art, and that is what I use to directly fund supporting, empowering, and promoting artists like us!
The most important takeaway here is that it would be my honor to become a value-added member to your own network of female artist friends and a fellow collaborator in the trade with the goal to support and succeed alongside each other - because when you succeed, we all succeed:)