An impromptu art exhibit on Syracuse’s North Salina Street tells a lot more about the artists than it does about any of the paintings, sculptures, poems or other works. The art works at Syracuse Behavioral Health’s 2015 Recovery Arts Festival give insight into the journey and struggle of recovery.
William Backman grew up around addiction with an alcoholic parent and other issues in his family…and started drinking at 13…he says it just got worse in his 20’, 30’s and beyond.
“I had faced the fact that I was going to be an addict the rest of my life. I didn’t exactly call myself an addict but I thought I was going to have to use drugs and alcohol to cover what was inside of me.”
His brother finally convinced him into recovery – twice. He wrote a series of Haikus that mirror stages he went through.
Recovery: Bouncing into step Life begins awakening Though sun-filled valleys
Awakening As joy fills the heart A hand stretches out to help Give to truly live
More of his poems are displayed in the exhibit. Backman says the words and other art in the exhibit detail people’s struggles as they journey into and through recovery.
“You see so many different levels; it can be surrender, acceptance, addiction, you know, the joy, the pain, everything involved.”
Mark Mossman’s ongoing recovery is from depression. He’s found some peace in taking items others might call trash and making them into functional sculptures – a clock and a table out of bicycle parts – for example…a a relevant message he wants to share
“Take garbage and turn it into art, ‘cause society looks at people with mental health issues and addictions as garbage; You just don’t look at it and pretend it’s not there. That’s why I prefer repurposed art and upcycled art. That’s my life.”
Syracuse Behavioral Healthcare President Jeremy Klemanski finds sometimes art is a way for people to express what’s going on. And apart from the heroin or synthetic marijuana issues in the community.…he also finds the exhibit can be a positive aspect of recovery,
“If you care about recovery, you’ll just enjoy seeing other people’s journey and story told. But I think the real value is, especially for folks in our community that don’t understand mental health and substance-abuse disorders, and the impact they have on a person’s overall health and well-being, you could learn stuff just by walking through this exhibit.”
The Recovery Arts Exhibit will be up through Sept 30th at Syracuse Behavioral Healthcare at 329 North Salina St. Syracuse.
