What does it mean to for a place to be “home”?
Sometimes those recovering from addiction can be marginalized in our community spaces, but Feels Like Home - a celebration of art and poetry from the Murray recovery community - highlights the creative and resilient spirit of many of our neighbors working through substance abuse issues.
The project, made possible by a Kentucky Arts Council Arts Access Assistance Grant to the Murray Sentinel, involved a series of workshops with Debi Danielson of the Murray Art Guild and poet Constance Alexander. Together, they helped over 40 participants from Serenity Recovery & Neartown Recovery create poems and collages to express their stories and visions of home.
Now, that work is on display at the Murray Convention and Visitors Bureau through Aug. 14. At a reception Friday, Aug. 7, at 4:30 p.m., some participants will read their work aloud for the community.
But whether or not you can attend the reception itself, poet Constance Alexander says you’ll feel the artists’ messages come through, “And you get the feeling of a lot of conversation going on even when the room is silent… there is a lot of energy that’s gone into this and I think people will feel it.”
I didn’t have to explain anything the art just let me show it.A 'Feels Like Home' Participant
“People are really interested in the arts and they don’t necessarily have the time or the place to do that,” says Alexander. We all get so busy – especially those in recovery – and it’s hard to make room to create. But one of the “great values of poetry,” she says, is the ability to discover we share a lot of the same experiences; that we’re not alone.
Now that the project has gotten the ball rolling and introduced participants to the Murray Art Guild workshop space, Alexander hopes the creativity will continue, “I think people will access that opportunity more because they know it’s there.”
I remembered that I’m creative and I haven’t felt that in yearsA "Feels Like Home" Participant
Serenity Recovery Executive Director Holly Cherry says she’s definitely seen positive feedback from those in her program, “It was good. It was community. It was connection. It was being able to break out of their... maybe the boxes that we put ourselves in to think that we can’t write poetry or we can’t create art.”
Addiction, says Alexander, is something that affects most people one way or another – either directly or indirectly. She views this project as a good opportunity for the wider community to learn more about the recovery community.
Holly Cherry agrees, “I think that’s really important that they be seen and heard. And that their art be seen. Because it’s really amazing.”
Feels like Home is on display through Aug. 14.
