Rams recover through art and community

Julianna Brown, Contributing Writer

VCU’s Humanities Research Center, VCUarts, Rams in Recovery and Richmond’s Inclusive Recovery City Initiative hosted the annual Recovery in Practice symposium at the VCU Institute for Contemporary Art from April 17-19. 

The symposium facilitated several events, including the Art Exhibition Opening at the De Pillars Building on April 18, at 4:30 p.m. 

The Recovery in Practice conference hosted artists, writers and activists who have suffered from substance use disorders, according to the Recovery in Practice website. Speakers at the conference spoke on shared experiences to highlight and celebrate the importance of substance use programs in Richmond. 

John Freyer, an associate professor of cross-disciplinary media in the department of photography and film, serves as the facility advisor for Rams in Recovery. Freyer said he joined Rams in Recovery within six months of its founding. 

The 2025 Recovery in Practice conference marked the fourth edition, which began at Columbia University, according to Freyer. 

“The ethos of this conference is that people in recovery are full and whole people who live rich lives,” Freyer said. “Why don’t we talk about the rich lives they lead, and the way they’ve overcome things, rather than just the things they’ve overcome?” 

Freyer said they try not to use a PowerPoint presentation, and would rather focus on discussion and human connection, regardless of education.

“It’s community groups, it’s academic groups, it’s direct services groups, it’s been organized by staff from the ICA, staff from the HRC and faculty from the school of the arts, and the team that works in Rams in Recovery,” Freyer said. “The exhibition was organized by alumni in recovery at VCU, all the artwork was done by individuals in recovery.” 

The Recovery in Practice Art Exhibition associated with the conference was a group of artists in recovery, many being VCU alumni, according to Ella Floyd, Freyer’s assistant and one of four organizers of the art exhibition.

The Recovery in Practice conference facilitated a space where individuals in recovery could speak on their experiences in a less intimidating way, according to Floyd. 

Rowan Thompson, a fourth-year communication arts student, said she felt inspired to visit the art exhibition after taking an interest in an addiction in literature class this semester. 

“I find it fascinating,” Thompson said. “I never thought about the conversation of addiction specifically with visual art, which is the kind of art that I like to make.” 

 English professor and attendee of the art exhibition, Leslie Shiel, said she shared much of her passion for the Recovery in Practice movement. 

“I have taught the literature of addiction class last year for the second time,” Shiel said. “I come as a person who is teaching that class, who has been close to people with addiction issues, and I’ve done a lot of reading and writing about those kinds of issues.” 

The conference promoted several events apart from the art exhibition, including a conversation about decarceration at the Institute for Contemporary Art. 

Panelist and board member of the Inclusive Recovery City Initiative, Rev. Dana Sally-Allen, shared her knowledge on decarceration and the destigmatization of those in recovery. 

Sally-Allen said she compared substance use to a disease. For those in recovery from substance use, storytelling can be therapeutic and a way for healing. 

“Storytelling helps us discover our strengths, resilience and an unknown power that lives within us all,” Sally-Allen said. 

Sally-Allen is the CEO and founder of a recovery organization of her own called the Dana Sally-Allen Foundation. 

The foundation is meant to destigmatize recovery so that individuals a part of the community will have equal opportunities, according to Sally-Allen. 

Sally-Allen said that creative practices like music therapy are an effective way for individuals in recovery to express themselves. 

“Individuals with substance-use disorders, we hold things in, but the arts help us release,” Sally-Allen said. 

For an individual in the process of long-term recovery, hearing stories from others at the Recovery in Practice conference gives them hope, according to Sally-Allen. 

“Story-telling is creative, it’s innovative, it helps,” Sally-Allen said.