“Stigma Highlighted: Portraits of Recovery” travels to DCA
For January 2023, Dorchester Center for the Arts is pleased to welcome a traveling exhibition from the Art League of Ocean City entitled “Stigma Highlighted: Portraits of Recovery”. Planned by the League’s Education Director Katrin Huber, this exhibition challenges misconceptions and negativity towards individuals battling addiction. Working with their local recovery agencies, the Art League paired twelve artists with twelve individuals who had gone through addiction recovery either from narcotics or alcohol and taped interviews of them telling the stories of their recovery journey. The artists attended the interviews and created drawings of the subjects which they took back to their studios and developed into full portrait paintings in their choice of mediums that captured not only likeness but also personality.
The exhibit has a QR code with each painting that can be scanned so the viewer sees and hears a two-minute clip of the interview. In addition, they produced a fifteen-minute documentary that is being distributed to local schools and talks to youth directly about how to avoid getting involved with drugs and alcohol. Participating artists: Megan Burak, Reeves Dark, Teri Edgeworth, Jill Glassman, Julia Guilfoil, Izzy Huber, Katrin Huber, Jim Rehak, Maggii Sarfaty, Jessica Schlegel, Misha Shipman, and Jacki Yamin.
In 2019, Dorchester Center for the Arts presented “Wellness in the Storm” in partnership with Dorchester County’s Opioid Intervention Team. This public awareness initiative used arts programming to engage the Dorchester County community and challenge the stigma associated with mental illness and substance use disorder. The project featured an art exhibition and four public programs that took place in various Dorchester County locations. DCA is pleased to continue to shine a light on this critical community issue and the healing power of the arts by hosting this traveling exhibition.
The Art League of Ocean City is a nonprofit arts facility dedicated to promoting artistic expression and appreciation for the creative arts in the community. Rina Thaler severs as the League’s Executive Director.