Artist Susan Barron Unveils Veteran PTSD Portrait Series

The Series: Eighteen Months, Twelve Veterans

Barron's collection features twelve veterans from four service branches, each portrait layered with text fragments from therapy journals and discharge paperwork. The artist began the project in late 2024 after her brother, a Navy veteran, described his difficulty accessing VA-approved PTSD care. Each sitting lasted three to five hours. Subjects shared combat deployment histories and post-service struggles alongside their decision to pursue cannabis therapy.

The portraits themselves are mixed-media: acrylic base layers overlaid with photocopied DD-214 discharge forms, prescription labels, and handwritten journal excerpts. Barron applies a final resin coat that magnifies the text, forcing viewers to read veterans' words as they study their faces.

Why Veterans Turn to Cannabis

Veteran advocates estimate that 20-30% of post-9/11 service members experience PTSD, yet VA treatment protocols remain limited to talk therapy and pharmaceutical options with high discontinuation rates. Cannabis, still federally illegal and prohibited for VA doctors to recommend, has become an informal first-line therapy for thousands of veterans navigating state medical programs on their own.

The gap between what works and what's allowed creates a shadow healthcare system where veterans swap dosing advice in parking lots.

Barron's subjects described quitting benzodiazepines and SSRIs after finding relief with indica-dominant strains and high-CBD ratios. Three of the twelve had prior substance-use diagnoses. All three said cannabis helped them avoid opioid relapse.

Exhibition Plans and Public Response

The series debuted May 15 at a private gallery in Denver, with plans for a traveling exhibition through veteran community centers in eight states by year-end. Barron partnered with Veterans for Natural Rights, a Colorado-based advocacy group, to coordinate venue access and ensure veteran-friendly viewing environments—no crowds, optional guided tours, peer counselors on-site.

Early response has been strong. The Denver opening drew 140 attendees, including two state legislators and the director of Colorado's Division of Veterans Affairs. One portrait subject, former Marine Corps sergeant Elena Ruiz, attended with her family. She told local press the project gave her a way to explain her PTSD to her children without shame.

The Legal Paradox Veterans Navigate

Federal law prohibits VA physicians from recommending cannabis, even in states with legal medical programs, leaving veterans to navigate state registries and private doctors without institutional support. Thirty-eight states now allow medical cannabis for PTSD. But veterans risk losing VA benefits if they test positive during routine care—a policy the VA has declined to revise despite mounting advocacy pressure.

Barron's series makes this paradox visible. Several portraits include redacted VA correspondence denying cannabis-therapy requests. One features a side-by-side comparison: a veteran's $1,200 monthly pharmaceutical costs versus his $180 monthly cannabis budget.

What Comes Next

Barron is raising funds for a companion documentary and a second portrait series focused on women veterans, who report higher rates of military sexual trauma and lower rates of PTSD diagnosis. She has commitments from four additional subjects and is seeking gallery partners in states with newer medical programs—Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana—where veteran access remains constrained by restrictive qualifying conditions.

The artist plans to donate 20% of print sales to veteran cannabis-access nonprofits. Prints range from $250 to $800 depending on size; originals aren't for sale. For full background on veterans' use of cannabis for PTSD, see the CannIntel topic hub on Veterans, PTSD & Cannabis.

The next exhibition opens June 10 at a veteran center in Pueblo, Colorado. Barron is also in talks with the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago for a 2027 showing.