Combat Arts San Diego is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides art classes, museum tours, mentoring, art exhibitions, and public art opportunities for post-911 combat veterans and teens incarcerated in Juvenile Hall facilities. Our programming utilizes art making and art viewing to restore cognitive functioning and promote self expression for healing. By making, viewing, and exhibiting art, participants experience increases in self-confidence, community engagement, and personal expression, as well as reductions in physical pain, anxiety, and depression. Creating visual art makes it possible for our students to communicate with pictures what is difficult to put into words.