Suzanne Shea Gallagher uncovers resilience within ‘Smile Lines’

Suzanne Shea Gallagher said the “Smile Lines Project” began with a conversation.

At the time, Gallagher was in the midst of painting the portrait of a military veteran, who steadily opened up in the course of these sessions, sharing with the Columbus artist stories from his time in the service, and how he continued to struggle with his mental health after being deployed to Lebanon as a teenager following the 1983 bombing of a Marine barracks in Beirut.

“And it wasn’t until he got out that the PTSD hit really bad, because he said when he was in, there were 200,000 Marines who had his back,” Gallagher said in early November from her studio at 700 Bryden. “And then when he was out, he felt really vulnerable and alone. And it took him a while to tell me this, but then he was the one who introduced me to 22 a day.”

This number is tied to a 2012 report by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs that analyzed suicide data from 21 states and identified more than 18 percent of those who died as having a military history. Using this data, the VA stated there were an average of roughly 22 veteran suicides a day in 2010 – a number that became the backbone in a handful of groups running public awareness campaigns. More recently, the VA reported that 6.488 veterans died by suicide in 2024, an average of 17.7 deaths per day, and up from 6,398 veteran suicides in 2023.

Armed with this awareness, Gallagher launched “Smile Lines,” an ongoing project for which she aims to complete 52 portraits of U.S. military service members and veterans, each of which is displayed alongside a testimonial where the individual discusses the concept of resilience. Those taking part are presented anonymously – only a first name and a last initial are given – and each is encouraged to smile, with Gallagher capturing these “smile lines” in her paintings as a way of calling attention to the idea that things gets better.

While the portraits on a whole read as warm, resolute, and even hopeful, the process of getting to each could at times be emotionally fraught. Gallagher described some of the sessions in almost therapeutic terms, recalling how many participants broke down in tears as they recalled their experiences in the service, their mental health struggles, and how their futures could at times become clouded by thoughts of suicide.

“I don’t think we talk about death enough. I don’t think we talk about mental health enough. And these are 52 volunteers who are willing to start that conversation,” said Gallagher, who is holding a fundraiser for “Smile Lines” at the Hey Hey Bar and Grill from 3-7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14, and who earlier this week launched a website documenting the venture. “And there are some in here who are still serving. There are some who have just gotten out. And there are some who passed away because of their injuries, and especially to Agent Orange. But their smile lines and their stories are going to continue.”

In his statement, Kenny R. leans on language reflective of the years he served in the Navy, writing that “the most important thing is to fight the ship, not to go down with it,” and urging his fellow service members to “weather on, sailor.” Chris W., meanwhile, addresses the heavy personal toll of his time in the Marines (“I shouldn’t be alive…what I lived through”) and stresses the importance of making some peace with your past in attempting to find a way forward.

Though intended to capture the resilience of those who have served, the project has also helped to steel Gallagher, who in recent years has endured a divorce, the death of both parents, and the closure of her Parsons Avenue gallery, the Roscoe Room, which she said reintroduced her fierceness at a point in time when a volatile marriage threatened to rob it from her altogether. “[The gallery] showed me what I could do when I wasn’t being yelled at,” she said.

In this stretch, Gallagher said this project served as balm, the resilience of those she painted affording her the strength to keep going. Now, she said, she’s in a new relationship with “an amazing partner,” and she’s continuing to tour “Smile Lines” as a means to raise awareness of the high suicide rate among veterans.

“When I started, I was like, I’m not good with this, and I’m going to try and do something,” Gallagher said. “And with it, it’s almost like I’ve realized I have some power.”