It’s very easy to see addicts as utterly different from us, as someone whose addictions have rendered them completely separate from those of us in the day-to-day world.
But of course, they have as much humanity as anyone else. A new exhibit at the Boll Family YMCA’s Lobby Gallery called “The Art of Transformation” aims to show us that. It showcases the work of men who are clients of Mariners Inn, which helps men addicted to substances (and who are often homeless, as well) get on track to recovery.
The work on display at the Y was created through the Mariners Inn art therapy program. Robin Kelleher is the art therapist, and she says she hopes the exhibit will show the humanity and beauty of her clients. “I really hope this helps people see them differently,” she says. “They have this art inside them.”
Most clients are required to do art therapy. It allows the men who are in the program to express things they might not be comfortable talking about, both the pain of addiction and their hope as they enter recovery. It also promotes group interaction, which can set them up for better 12-step meeting attendance after they graduate from the program.
Art therapy began at Mariners Inn in 2005, and has become a signature part of their program. Detroit artist Hubert Massey showed clients and staff how to create mosaics, and now mosaics from the program greet visitors to the Mariners Inn facility.
Clients also have access to open studio time, when they can work on their own projects outside the scope of art therapy. Many of the clients of Mariners Inn have been spurred to make more art once the program helped them connect with their artistic talent. Much of the work on display highlights their newfound abilities.
For example, Stanhope Gayles Jr. mixes words and images to create pieces that eloquently express his struggles with addiction and bipolar disorder as well as PTSD from his time as a Marine, but also his hope for a better life as he continues recovery. He is also a published poet and a musician.
The work shows the soul inside these people society wants to brush aside and treat as worthless, and gives them an avenue to express both their pain and their joys.
The exhibit will be in the Lobby gallery through the end of July. A reception for the artists will be July 15th at 6 p.m.