The Impact of Drugs: Join the discussion April 12 at the Currier Museum

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"The Drug Addict" a sculpture by Duane Hanson.
“Drug Addict” a sculpture by Duane Hanson.

MANCHESTER, NH – A special exhibition Still Life: 1970s Photorealism highlights many aspects of the 1970s, including drug use. In a unique collaboration with Hope for New Hampshire Recovery, the Currier has arranged for a panel discussion April 12 at 2 p.m. featuring several experts in the field, including Cheryl Willkie, senior vice president of Farnum Center and Donna Marston, author of Peeling the Onion and founder of Families Sharing Without Shame.

They will discuss the current national and local drug epidemic that crosses all socioeconomic backgrounds. The public is encouraged to attend.

Screen Shot 2015-04-02 at 6.05.35 PMAccording to Melissa Crews, a vice chair for the Hope for NH Recovery board of directors, organizers invited treatment clients from the Farnum Center to come in and view the exhibition and do an art piece of their own, describing what they saw and how it made them feel.

Lynn Thomson of the Currier contacted Crews to help organize the panel discussion, in light of the city’s drug overdose epidemic.

“She asked if I could help her find people to put together a panel that could speak to this issue. We decided what a great idea it would be to bring together prevention, treatment, recovery,  and family support and pull it all together with Tym Rourke to speak,” Crews said. There will be informational tables set up during the panel discussion.

Come and hear stories of survivors and learn how to tell if someone you know may be using drugs, and what local resources are available to help. Following the conversation, tour the exhibition and join Farnum clients celebrating the art they created in response to the art on view at the Currier.

The panel discussion and program are free with museum admission: Adult $12; Seniors $10 (65+); Students, $9; Youth (13-17), $5; Members and children under 13 free.

Guest Speakers:

  • Mary Forsythe-Taber, CPS, Executive Director, Makin’ It Happen Coalition for Resilient Youth RPH, Substance Misuse Prevention Coordinator Greater Manchester Region
  • Dr. Cheryl Willkie, Senior Vice President Easter Seals Substance Abuse Services
  • Sandi Coyle, Person in long term recovery, representative of Safe Harbor Recovery Center Effort, Seacoast region,
  • Donna Marston, Author of Peeling the Onion and founder of Families Sharing Without Shame
  • Tym Rourke,  Chair of Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention; Director, Substance Use Disorders Grantmaking and Strategic Initiatives, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.

    Still Life: 1970s Photorealism was organized by the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Conn., and has been on view at the Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn Harbor, N.Y. It will include 37 works from the Yale collection and an additional six from the Currier. The Boston Globe, in its review of the Yale exhibition, called it, “thought provoking,” emphasizing the fascinating “tension between the there-and-then of photography and the here-and-now of painting.” The show runs through May 3, 2015.


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About this Author

Carol Robidoux

PublisherManchester Ink Link

Longtime NH journalist and publisher of ManchesterInkLink.com. Loves R&B, German beer, and the Queen City!