The FOR-NY Recovery Arts Festival, first held in 2003, provides budding artists in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs the opportunity to express themselves through a variety of art mediums including photography, watercolor, pencil, oil/pastel, mixed media, pen & ink, acrylic, traditional poetry (English & Spanish) and hip hop (English & Spanish). Roughly 100 inspiring entries arrive at our Albany office every summer.
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of every day life.” [cite]Pablo Picasso[/cite]
Entries are judged on how well they reflect the National Recovery Month theme for that year. In 2016, it was “Join the Voices of Recovery: Our Families, Our Voices, Our Recovery!”
All entries were included in an exhibit at the Empire State Plaza in Albany throughout September (National Recovery Month). Winning entries were displayed at the NYS Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Providers conference in Saratoga Springs, New York where festival winners were recognized during an awards ceremony on the opening night of the conference.
[button]View Our 2016 Winners[/button] [button]View Photos From the Awards Ceremony[/button]
Watch Our Video Featuring Many of the 2016 Entries.
“Art is a wound turned into light.” [cite]Georges Braque[/cite]
We are profoundly grateful to our esteemed judges for their time and careful review of each and every entry.
The “Call For Entries” is announced each spring with a submission deadline in late July.
Subscribe to our mailing list to be notified about next year’s Festival and other Recovery news and events.
“The medical profession has come a long way in recognizing the healing benefits of art. My hope is that someday the arts will be considered as significant in everyone’s lives as breathing fresh air, eating clean foods, and performing physical exercise.” [cite]Renée Phillips[/cite]