The Good Shepherd is delighted to be staging another exhibition championing the power of art and community as a tool to help people through Recovery.

‘Recovery is for Everyone’ will run at Newhampton Arts Centre from September 13-26, during Recovery Month, featuring the varied work of people undergoing recovery from addiction, mental health challenges, homelessness and other experiences of trauma.

The fortnight’s exhibition will then feature a fantastic finale as the Good Shepherd link up with S.U.I.T (Service User Involvement Team) to ‘take over’ Wolverhampton Art Gallery as part of their ‘Friday Lates’ on the evening of Friday, September 27th, screening two film premieres focusing on art and recovery alongside the art, spoken word and live music.

The September showpiece follows a programme of nine months of workshops with professional artists organised by the Good Shepherd at the Newhampton Arts Centre in partnership with SUIT, Recovery Near You, Wolverhampton 360 and the University of Wolverhampton.

These workshops, covering a huge variety of disciplines including illustration, digital and audio visual art, drawing and painting, ceramics/clay workshops, eco-art and the spoken word, have been made possible thanks to grant funding of £27,000 from Arts Council England.

A special Recovery magazine will be produced to be available during the month and at the exhibition, as well as a film, which will be trailed at the launch night before being shown in full at the Art Gallery event.

“The collaboration on this project, and the range of people who have engaged with us during different stages of their recovery journeys, has been nothing short of incredible,” says Kate Penman, Community Engagement Worker at the Good Shepherd who has overseen the ACE project.

“I think it is the most ambitious collaboration I have ever been involved in, but ultimately the most successful, with different agencies and artists – the whole community infact – coming on board with such unyielding passion for the project.

“Art plays such an amazing role in people’s recovery journeys, and for them to be able to showcase their talents loudly and proudly, telling their stories and sharing their visions is an absolute delight.

“One of the participants who has a history of addiction has spoken about how being part of this project has been ‘empowering’, allowing them to process and heal and provide a positive outlet for self-discovery and growth.

“That is exactly how I feel, and we can only say a huge thank you to Arts Council England for believing that a charity supporting people experiencing homelessness could oversee such an affirming and lifechanging arts project – we can’t wait for the local community to be able to see it!”