Filling an Empty Space

ARTISTS ALL  Sonya, Michelle, Rhiannon, Annalise and Danielle (from left) created some of the murals on the fourth floor of Straight and Narrow’s residential units. The mural is one of a series created by some of the women residents at Straight & Narrow drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Paterson.

PATERSON  If the walls on the fourth floor of Straight and Narrow (S&N) here could talk, they would tell the stories of a group of women finding balance, hope and peace as they experience recovery from addiction at the Catholic Charities agency. Through a series of murals created by some of the woman residents at the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, the bare white walls now have colorful works of art adorning them.

One of the artists, Rhiannon, currently a resident at S&N, said, “Creating the mural took me back to a place that was better and makes me feel like myself again.”

The murals are just one way of using art therapy at S&N. Shawna Randolph, welfare liaison for the women’s unit, thought of the idea to use art as a way of allowing the clients to express themselves. She noticed many of the clients at S&N had artistic talent.

“When Joe Duffy came as executive director, he told us about his agenda for the agency and I thought he would be open to the idea for an art show. Our clients have all kinds of talents and art is just one of them,” said Randolph.

Duffy was on board with her idea, and last fall, S&N held is first art show showcasing the works of art of 18 men and women clients through many artistic techniques, which included work done with acrylic paint, oil paint, pencil, wood burning, markers and mixed media.

Taking it a step further in using art as therapy, Duffy invited clients to paint the walls of the residential units and the stairwells. The clients were to create a draft of the mural for approval and the mural had to include a theme or message about recovery from addictions.

“The clients use these stairways and walk through the halls a dozen times a day going to meals, meetings, outings and counseling,” said Duffy. “Because the walls were bare, I thought it would be good if they could read something meaningful and see something inspirational that they created.”

Danielle, another of the artists, found the experience calming for her. “Sometimes recovery can be emotionally exhausting. Getting involved with this project has been positively productive,” she said. Danielle also got to know Rhiannon, and they collaborated on a mural together. “It was a phenomenal way to break the ice,” said Danielle. “I was here for two days,” Rhiannon said, “and she was already recruiting me.”

Creating the mural has also been productive for Sonya, who used a quote to create her mural, which states her “3 C’s of Life.”

“You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change,” she said.

“Doing this filled an empty space,” said Sonya. “Sometimes, we have a lot of time here and it was nice to focus on something creative and important.”

The women’s unit currently offers three residential treatment programs. A six-month treatment program referred by the Drug Court and Mutual Agreement Programs and a 12-month program for women referred by other sources. Pregnant women are accepted into the program and may keep their children with them after giving birth. A woman without care for a pre-school child may apply to bring her child into treatment with her. Because some children are with their mothers, there are also child-friendly murals on the walls created by women at S&N.

At the men’s unit, plans are being made for male clients to create murals with their artistic talents.

“Using art as therapy has been an important part of the recovery process,” Randolph said. “I hope other rehabilitation centers acknowledge its value to help clients in recovery.”