'Into Light': Addressing Addiction One Portrait at a Time

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The "Into Light" exhibit is sketching a new path toward transforming the conversation around addiction — one portrait and story at a time. 

 

Since 2019, the nonprofit's founder Theresa Clower has put on close to 21 exhibitions around the country, sharing the stories of more than 600 people who have lost their lives to addiction. 

 

Now, the installation will be on view at Hotel Downstreet from Friday, March 13, through June 30, featuring 10 portraits of local community members who died from addiction and 20 portraits from the eastern Massachusetts exhibit. 

 

This collaborative effort combines municipal opioid settlement funds and lead sponsor Berkshire Health Systems, in collaboration with the Northern Berkshire Opioid Abatement Collaborative, HEAL Coalition, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, and North Adams Regional Hospital.

 

In addition to the installation, the team has developed programs and forums to be held throughout the three months to start a conversation and improve education on the disease. 

 

"The core to our efforts around 'Into Light' is the community education, especially building on people's awareness of addiction as a disease and as a disease that is curable," said Andy Ottoson, BRPC senior public health planner. 

 

Ottoson stressed the importance of treating substance use disorder like any other disease, reducing stigma, and normalizing open conversations around addiction and the resources out there to help recover.