On PTSD Awareness Day, June 27th, distinguished Chicano artist’s deep anguish with his daily battles and how staying focused on his art and community, he has created a rewarding career and life

By Elia Esparza

For 40 years, U.S. Vietnam war veteran, Roberto Gutierrez has dealt with survivor’s guilt that has kept his devastating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) challenges alive in his brain and it has been his solid-rock foundation of strength and belief that by living his best life, he honors his fallen battle comrades. But it has not been an easy street for Gutierrez.

For Gutierrez and millions of others, every day is National PTSD Awareness Day (annually, June 27th) because the mental disease has occupied the real estate in their brains and it never, ever leaves. In the U.S., 6.8% of adults will experience PTSD in their lifetimes with women twice as likely as men to experience it (10.4% to 5%) frequently as a result of sexual trauma. Military veterans are highly likely to experience PTSD, with Vietnam War vets at 30%, Gulf War vets at 10%, and Iraq War vets at 14%. Sadly, there is no way to cure PTSD, though there is a growing body of treatments to help manage these conditions, including psychotherapy, exercise therapy, service animals, and more. 

Each morning before the start of his days, he nods at the Marine group photo that hangs on a wall in his home/art studio and says a prayer. Among the group, he is one of the youngest who at 17 years old had to convince his mother to sign the release to let him join. Every day is a challenge but the photo of his fellow Marines helps to remind him to keep on fighting, he owes it to them. 

Upon his miraculous return stateside, he took advantage of his G.I. Bill and enrolled at East Los Angeles Community College, where he excelled in art classes. Up until that time, he never even dabbled in any type of painting or sketching. What he found out was that painting soothed the anxiety and pain of his severe PTSD. He immediately ditched taking any other classes other than art. And the rest is history… well, sort of.

One day in the early 1970s, he literally stumbled upon Franciscan nun, Sister Karen Boccalero, founder of Self-Help Graphics in his neighborhood, and she immediately recognized a troubled young soul. At first, Gutierrez wanted nothing to do with joining or painting at her studio but he never refused her invitations to sit with her for a cup of coffee and some pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread). Slowly she won him over and got him to stop daily and she encouraged him to paint. In fact, it was Sister Karen who guided him to paint the streets and images of his childhood community. 

Gutierrez has distinguished himself as a respected contemporary artist, and a Chicano who is known for his paintings, sketches, and watercolors of East Los Angeles. Today, he has expanded his art suites to include the Alcatraz Rock in San Francisco, Central Park/NYC, and Paris, France, where he has visited often paying homage to his hero artists who fled here to paint their masterpieces. Artists, like Soutine, Modigliani, Matisse, Van Gogh, and Picasso, and has retraced their steps, their lives from a fabulous stroll from Montmartre to Montparnasse, Gutierrez has recounted their lives and adventures. He is so well-versed in early 20thcentury art that many consider him an art historian.

And, for PTSD Awareness Month, the artist salutes all military veterans and victims of PTSD and hopes his paintings and perseverance can be an inspiration of facing your fears with courage and of reaching out to get help from whoever is offering it. “If I had not felt this great responsibility for my fallen Marine buddies, and love of a wonderful woman, I would have caved into the destruction of addiction… to alcohol and drugs,” lamented Gutierrez.

Once asked if he had not gone to Vietnam, what might have become of him?  “If you asked my late sister Carmen,” he answered, “she would say I would have been a hell of a creative welder.”

The long and short of it on this PTSD Awareness Day, face your challenges with fearless determination and just keep at it. “PTSD messes with me every day of my life, and there some days worse than others, but surrounding yourself with people who love you, good friends and mental health professionals, have been my saving grace.” 

Gutierrez realizes not every PTSD victim has been as fortunate as he has, but at some point in his youth, he chose art over booze and drugs. Where that came from, “Who knows, but if you asked Sister Karen, she would thank our mighty God,” he paused. “Find whatever drives your passion for life and go for it.”

For more information on Robert Gutierrez, visit: http://robertogutierrezartist.com