SAFE will host the traveling art installation “Ribbons of Recovery” Thursday, November 7th at SAFE HQ in Franklin. Presented by FIRST Steps Together with the Cape Cod Children’s Place, Ribbons for Recovery uses material art to reveal the many paths taken toward recovery and the effort it takes to continue the journey.
As an act of trauma recovery, the project transforms a process shrouded in stigma into a celebration of grit and achievement.
To make the art exhibit, Cape Cod residents in recovery, all of whom are parents, added a ribbon to a ring for every recovery modality they had undertaken. The FIRST team, a peer-led initiative staffed by folks with personal recovery experience, added ribbons to their own rings as well.
Creators say the process was powerful. “There was love, there were tears, there were emotions on all sides,” says FIRST Family Recovery Support Specialist Erin Pierce.
Stringing the rings together on a shared cord made the collective journey of recovery seem less individual and more communal. “Right away, we could see that we were all in it together,” Pierce says.
The team also sought to create a project that shows the non-linear, often multimodal nature of recovery. They see each ribbon on each ring as progressing on a path toward agency, hope, and self-love. “Our wish is for the ribbons to illuminate all the possibilities for pathways to recovery,” say the Ribbons for Recovery creators, "and light the way for others who may still feel like they’re wandering in the dark.”
Pierce agrees. “One of the things I had a hard time with early on was how hard it was to see a sparkly, colorful ribbon and know that it represented something tragic like overdose. But the beauty of this project is that it helps you realize that each ribbon is a celebration, because it moved someone a step closer to being clean and sober.”
Created in 2023, Ribbons for Recovery has been exhibited across the Cape. It will be featured at SAFE on November 7th from 5:30-9:30pm, with the exhibit’s creators on hand for discussion, questions, and resources.
Cape Cod Childrens Place offers education and services to families across the Cape and islands. Their FIRST Steps Together programs support families affected by substance use disorder and support groups for grandparents raising grandchildren.
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