On the Journey: Art of Hope and Recovery

As a volunteer at the BC Schizophrenia Society (BCSS) Victoria branch, I found others in recovery from a mental illness, and their family members, who are artists and poets but who have difficulty exhibiting their work or feel awkward reading their poetry in a public sphere. I was impressed by the high standards of their creative and expressive work. During a meeting with the Peer group, many expressed interest in being part of this project and offering their services.

Back in August, there were many details we had to figure out: the shape it would take, the venue, funding, and how to keep everyone interested and active until the show in March. We set out to find a name that would inspire people to see their recovery in a positive light and combat stigma against mental illness. Life is a journey and so is recovery and finding hope.

We wanted a public space where anyone could come in, see our art and poetry, and find out about our organization in a casual atmosphere. A café, rather than a traditional art gallery, was ideal. Caffe Fantastico (on the corner of Quadra and Kings Road Victoria) fit the bill; it’s on the same block as BCSS, is spacious with lots of room for paintings, is committed to the arts, has helpful caring staff, and they serve great coffee. It’s been a wonderful partnership.

We have assembled artists, poets and original singer songwriters from our own ranks, along with the Pandora Arts Collective (a local art group) and others who heard about what we are doing. We are thrilled to have funding from an anonymous donor through the Victoria Foundation, and Opus has helped out too. This is truly a group effort. It has expanded to include a gala performance of poets and original singer songwriters, with artists present on March 19th at 7pm. A chapbook of the participants’ work is for sale on that night, and a video documenting the process. The exhibit will be up until April 14th, and works are for sale.

On the Journey is about combating stigma, showing that people who are in recovery from a mental illness, and their family members, can all create great art, poetry, lyrics, music, and can organize an event of this scale. This is a gala and exhibit about hope, recovery, creativity and pulling together as a community.