Art attack

‘People in recovery have creative minds,’ says John Platt, operations lead at the ANEW recovery community in Hyde, Greater Manchester. ‘Through this whole experience I’ve seen nothing but happy, smiley faces.’

Over five months, designer Joe Hartley has been making twice weekly visits to ANEW as its very own artist in residence. Through exploratory sessions featuring everything from carpentry to ceramics and even chicken husbandry, Joe and the ANEW community have been having a ball while pushing the boundaries of what creativity means to the limits.

‘This is exactly why we picked him,’ says John, who sat on the artist selection panel alongside project commissioners Portraits of Recovery (PORe) and Castlefield Gallery. ‘Working with Joe complemented so well what we already offer at ANEW, which includes intensive group therapy, education and work placements, equine therapy and supported employment. When Mark Prest of PORe approached us about hosting an artist’s residency, I thought “we already work quite creatively” so it didn’t feel like a huge stretch.’

With a professional background in the arts, PORe founder Mark is himself a man in recovery. He launched the organisation in 2011 with the mission of making art and recovery familiar bedfellows (DDN, October 2023, page 10). PORe also works with galleries and museums, advocating for the inclusion of recovery themes in their public programmes and better access for this mostly uncatered for audience.

‘I’ve been in rehabs where the only creative activity was colouring by numbers,’ he says. ‘For me, that’s not art – and it’s certainly not going to help people redefine or progress their recovery journeys. Contemporary art, thoughtfully conceived, has a powerful role to play in recovery. And that’s what this project is about. We wanted to work with a rehab and push their boundaries about what art is and can be, demonstrating the huge potential benefits for clients and also empowering and developing staff and volunteers to lead their own creative health sessions.’

REDEFINING NARRATIVES
The project is part of PORe’s pioneering three-year CHAORDIC programme, delivered in partnership with Castlefield Gallery, the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery. It explores the social impact that co-designed and made contemporary visual arts can have in redefining substance use narratives and recovery identities. With exhibition dates agreed at Castlefield Gallery, it was up to Joe and the 60 participants – including clients at every stage of recovery, staff and volunteers – to co-design the show alongside curators from the gallery and PORe.

For Joe, who co-owns a ceramics studio and runs community gardening sessions, it was an exciting, if somewhat challenging, prospect. ‘I was the only person in the room not in recovery and worried that people might think, “who does he think he is?” But I was made to feel very welcome,’ he says.

Another concern of Joe’s proved to be unfounded. ‘I thought people might struggle with the idea that everything would be created collectively,’ he says – ‘so no one could look at a finished piece and say “I did that”. To get around this, we made teapots in our first session. I asked everyone to pass them around, so one person crafted the main body, another made the handle and a third, the spout. It turned out that working collaboratively was not at all new to the groups, as it’s at the heart of their recovery process. It was really nice to see.’

The workshops – which ran from February to this month – have the potential to revolutionise how creativity is embedded into ANEW’s recovery programmes, and were also transformative for Joe. ‘I’ve never felt so fully absorbed and present,’ he says. ‘Because I knew what everyone at ANEW was going through, it would have felt rude not to be 100 per cent present at all times.’

IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Katherine Light has worked as a caretaker at ANEW for more than two years, after completing their 22-week programme herself. She joined many of Joe’s wide-ranging sessions, including ceramics and photo­graphy, and says their impact was immediate. ‘Joe earned everyone’s respect simply by being himself,’ she says. ‘He’s made a massive impact on clients, staff and the wider ANEW community. He might have come in to “do art” but what he’s really shown us is freedom to be yourself, express emotions and accept things as they are. I hope to use some of this when I run my own sessions.’

John, who’s worked at ANEW since it was founded in 2015, particularly likes the exhibition title, ANEW Way to Peel an Orange. ‘A client said they could peel an orange inside their pocket,’ he says, ‘and it felt like a great metaphor for recovery. At rehab we would say “there’s a better way than peeling it in your pocket” – get it out, don’t keep secrets, there’s no need to be embarrassed, peel it in front of the group. So the title is about trying out doing things more openly.’

Another metaphor that resonated for John, whose own recovery journey began at age 50, is that of the ‘recoverist chicken’. Recoverist is a portmanteau word blending recovery and activism, and when Joe brought groups to his allotment to help care for his chickens, one laid eggs – the chicks then grew under the group’s watchful eyes. ‘They’re coming to live with us at ANEW,’ says John. ‘We’ve named them the recoverist chickens, because they represent new life.’

EXHIBITING THE PROCESS
As Joe puts it, ‘the outcome is exhibiting the process’, which means the exhibition will tell the story of the creative journey everyone has been on. Adorning the walls at Castlefield Gallery will be black and white photographs taken by the groups, and a floor-to-ceiling spray-painted mural, influenced by Victorian botanical illustrations. Handmade tables in the centre of the gallery space will display some of the teapots, while a chicken coop will share the feathery fun and freedom of the recoverist chickens via livestream. Outside will be a new garden, created with the ANEW clients, while workshops will run upstairs.

‘I hope visitors find humour,’ says Joe. ‘Our sessions were full of laughter. It’s not about laying bare people’s pain. Recovery is not for the faint hearted, but I hope this is an accessible way in. You don’t have to know anything about art to get something from this exhibition.’

For Joe, who lost his younger brother to substance use four years ago, the project holds huge personal significance. ‘My brother never reached recovery, so I haven’t seen this side before – the human potential for enormous personal growth and transformation. It’s been a highly emotional, but positive experience, to see that struggles with substance use don’t always end the same way.’

Sara Teiger is a freelance PR and writer