Healing art

For a lot of us in recovery, the world is a dark, dangerous place where emotions go unexpressed and dreams are buried underground in our minds and addictions," Richmond artist Beth Stuhlman says in a statement accompanying her work at the Art6 Gallery.

"Most of us think we're alone in our misery. . . . I began to paint as a way to express where I was and how I felt. It became a way to connect with others. . . . As recovery progressed and I began to heal, painting and drawing became a way to quiet my mind, listen inwardly and gain knowledge, healing and creativity."

Stuhlman is not alone.

She speaks for many of the artists whose 67 paintings, sculptures and works on paper were selected from 113 entries by juror Petie Bogen-Garrett for the "2009 National Art of Recovery Show" at Art6.

Richmonder Cheryl Phillips used to paint on a regular basis. Then addiction - "I have a lot of addictions," she says - interfered. Her small oval painting on quilted canvas - "I Woke Up and My Heart Started Singing, Singing . . . " - is her first painting in 13 years.

The imagery includes a bird, an open palm and a fist with eyes.

"Those are my eyes, which are opening," Phillips explains, "and the bird is coming out of the fist and singing. It was just like when I started to paint again. It was like my heart opened up and started singing.

"My recovery and art are intertwined. Before I went into recovery, I was painting a lot of negative stuff. Now I've turned the negatives into positives. Recovery is a day at a time. That's the beautiful thing about it. Every day is a new chance. Now I'm keeping my addictions at bay. I have a lot of tools to do that. Art is the most beautiful tool I have."

At first glance, visitors might not guess that this show's theme is recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. Much of the imagery is upbeat. A girl proudly flexes her muscles, for example. Three figures are silhouetted against a glowing sunset.

Many of the titles - "Monument to Hope," "Happy, Joyous and Free," "On the Road to a Happy Ending," "Reaching Out," "Promise of a New Day" - reinforce this optimism.

"All an artist had to do was enter work," says Art6 artist-member Jennifer Yane, who also sits on the board of the show's sponsor, the Substance Abuse and Addictions Recovery Alliance of Central Virginia.

"The artists didn't have to have a substance-abuse problem or be in recovery. We told them the show's theme, then gave them a free rein to be creative."

This show began two years ago in the upstairs hall at the Richmond Public Library. Last year, it was consigned to the upstairs gallery at Art6. This year's edition, which shares all of Art6's downstairs space with a smaller companion array, "The Jail Show," is the show's first serious attempt to go national. Most of the artists are Virginians, but the show attracted entries from Maine to Texas.

"I made my decisions based on the space available," says Bogen-Garrett, an artist and freelance curator. "Sixty-seven is the maximum number of works that I could display to best effect in this space. My emphasis was on inclusiveness. I didn't want to rule out anyone who made a good effort."

The 46 entries that didn't make the Art6 cut are being shown in a similarly titled show that opened Friday and will continue through Nov. 10 at the Crossroads Art Center, 2016 Staples Mill Road.

Bogen-Garrett says she was surprised by the 10 three-dimensional entries - "most juried shows don't attract that many sculptural pieces" - and gratified by the enthusiasm that so many of the artists expressed at the opening reception.

"A number of these artists have not been in a juried show before," she says. "For some, this is a life-changing experience."

"The Jail Show" offers 63 graphite, colored-pencil and ballpoint-pen drawings by three inmates at the Richmond City Jail. They were created under the guidance of the McShin Foundation, which promotes recovery from substance abuse through art in its McCovery Program.

Fifty-two of the drawings are by self-taught artist Ventura Robinson, who was released in June after serving an 18-month sentence unrelated to his former drug addiction.

"My subject matter is families and women and landscapes, just about anything outside the bars," says Robinson, a cook at a fast-food restaurant.

"I was housed on Tier F2, which had a lot of violence. It was the worst place in the jail until the McShin Foundation came in. The foundation brought structure to the guys. It gave them another way of thinking about themselves.

"The McCovery program gave me peace and hope," Robinson says. "It gave me a chance. If the McShin Foundation hadn't come in, I don't know where I'd be now. I'd probably be homeless on the street."

Roy Proctor, a freelance writer and theater director, retired in 2004 as the art and theater writer for The Times-Dispatch. He can be reached at .