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Artists Show Human Side of Addiction

By Jenna Bensoussan

Amy Johnson (1980-2005)

Hands of Recovery

Accepting Help: A Choice for Light II

Sometimes, you need to put a different spin on addiction. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has found a creative way to do this with their Innovators Combating Substance Abuse Awards Program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

A retired orthopedic surgeon who sculpted twelve bronze hands to illustrate the 12 steps he has taken in recovery from addiction... three Maryland eighth graders, whose drawings illustrate anti-drug themes... a man incarcerated in Ohio whose work "Ashes" is sketched in cigarette ash, and whose use of cigarettes in his paintings symbolizes "any kind of addiction"... a high school junior, whose painting illustrates the nature of addiction by showing cigarette smoke trailing off into a spider web...

These are just a few of the talented visual artists whose powerful work was recognized in the Fourth Annual Art and Addiction Juried Art Exhibition and Contest, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Innovators Combating Substance Abuse Awards Program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Winners were chosen following judging at the recent Dr. Lonnie E. Mitchell National HBCU Conference in Washington, DC. Seventy entries were received—the most ever for this exhibition.

"The value of this art is its capacity to help us see both the destructive power of addiction and the new life born in recovery," says Jack E. Henningfield, PhD, Director of the Innovators Awards Program and Professor of Behavioral Biology, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Each year, I am astounded by not just the quality of the work submitted, but its power. We are proud to continue to support this project, and to showcase these talented and dedicated artists."

Winners receive a $500 consultancy with the Innovators Program to further discuss the role of art in recovering from substance abuse and addiction. All work will be posted to the Innovators' website, www.InnovatorsAwards.org, and will be included in the 2008 Art and Addiction Calendar.

Many of the winners have had personal experiences with addiction that influence their work. Julia Carpenter, a professional artist, composed a startling series of portraits about her late sister in progressive stages of addiction-related disintegration. Carpenter says the portraits express the "persistence of my grief despite all outward appearances."

Margaret Dowell, an artist, art historian and college art instructor, states that her painting "Letting Go" was created as a visualization piece for a friend addicted to drugs.

Teddy Ann Richardson, a high school arts educator, used paintings of bottles—some with people trapped inside—to illustrate her wish to break the cycle of addictions that affect members of her family.

Renowned "outsider" artist Ray Materson, who is in recovery himself, fashioned his piece from sock thread - a medium he has used since he first became a visual artist while in jail.

Creativity and artistic expression play a significant role in both recovery and in raising awareness of the personal toll caused by substance abuse and addiction. The National Program Office of Innovators Combating Substance Abuse has organized several events on art and addiction, acknowledging this creativity-recovery connection and using art to place a human face on addiction and recovery.

This year's adult winners include:

Winners in the junior category are:

For more information, please visit www.InnovatorsAwards.org.