Raising awareness for recovery month with interactive art at SU
SALISBURY, Md. – The Art League of Ocean City and Salisbury University are raising awareness for recovery month with a new innovative art experience.
Portraits of recovery puts a spotlight on substance abuse and people suffering with addiction, highlighting twelve Delmarva residents for turning their life around. Brandon O’Brien being one of them.
“I was just in some much pain that, in my mind, you know when I die, there is not going to be anything its just like how you could imagine it before you were born,” said O’Brien.
O’Brien is just one of twelve Delmarva residents with personal portraits included in an interactive art display at Salisbury University. All of the subjects in Portraits of Recovery have suffered with addiction, and lived to share their stories.
High School artist Izzy Huber channeled that inspiration onto the canvas, now hanging in the campus dining hall.
“When I first met Brandon, I just was quickly very inspired by his story and all the struggles that he had been through and just to see where he is today and all the success he has now and how he is helping his community was just really inspiring to me.”
Each portrait equipped with a QR code that brings the user to a video of the subject’s personal struggles. SU Dining Services Owen Rosten felt the commons was a perfect fit for each piece of art work.
“I thought this would be the ideal location since we have so many student, family and community traffic here and I don’t know a single family that doesn’t know someone or doesn’t have someone that suffers from addiction.”
The Art League of Ocean City created the exhibit. Education Director Katrin Huber says the personal stories are a innovative way to inform young adults and kids about substance abuse disorder “because then they are thinking about what they are doing, their decisions and what decisions they are making.”
Huber says stories like Brandon’s leave a lasting impact because with addiction, you’re losing you friends and he for example said, “My wake up call was seeing my best friend in a coffin,” O’Brien said.
That’s why Art League Executive Director Rina Thaler says this exhibit is so important.
“It’s our mission to service all parts of the community to show how are can affect health and mental health in particular.”
