The “Art in Recovery” exhibit will be held in the basement of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Friday and Saturday. The exhibit is presented in partnership with the Mental Health Association of Chautauqua County. The selected works are from local artists who share how they celebrate their own creativity and recovery. The exhibit can also be viewed on Sunday after the 10 a.m. service at St. Luke’s.
The 2024 Art in Recovery exhibition, presented by the Mental Health Association of Chautauqua County and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, will feature a wide range of art this year.
The exhibition features a collection of various art forms, including paintings, textile art and photography. All works were created by participants of the weekly Art in Recovery classes at MHA’s Jamestown and Dunkirk rehabilitation centers. The works are an artistic expression of their own creativity and personal recovery.
Facilitators for the Jamestown Art in Recovery group are Diane Valvo, MHA activities director, and volunteer Brandon Griggs. The Haight-Wills volunteer wing facilitates the Dunkirk group.
The opening of the “Art in Recovery” exhibition will take place on Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. Additional viewing opportunities will be available on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Sunday after the 10 a.m. service at St. Luke’s.
The church is located on the corner of Fourth and Main Streets in Jamestown and the exhibition is located in the Undercroft, which has an entrance on Fourth Street.
The exhibition is intended to raise awareness of International Drug Overdose Awareness Day, a global event that takes place every year on August 31.
Recovery-themed events continue over the weekend, with St. Luke’s Recovery Sunday service on August 25. This is their annual commemoration of International Overdose Awareness Day, remembering those who have died from overdoses in the past year. While acknowledging that more needs to be done to reduce overdose deaths, they also celebrate being in Chautauqua County this year, in part due to the availability of Narcan, which saves lives by reversing the effects of an overdose.
Following the 10 a.m. service, St. Luke’s will host a prayer walk to Spring Street, where 30% of the county’s fatal overdoses have occurred. The prayer walk will depart from St. Luke’s at noon. For more information about the walk and route, contact the church office at 716-483-6405 or [email protected].
The Mental Health Association of Chautauqua County is a peer recovery center that offers support groups and individual coaching for people who want to improve their lives, deepen their well-being, succeed in recovery, or support others on the road to recovery. Peers use their personal stories to help people find recovery in their own lives, in their own ways.
All Mental Health Association services are free. To learn more about the MHA, call 716-661-9044 or visit MHAChautauqua.org or Facebook.com/MHAChautauqua.
