Drug Addiction: Real People, Real Stories
Massachusetts INTO LIGHT Project Exhibition
August 27–November 8, 2024 / Opening reception: Saturday, September 14, 2024 1-3pm

Wheaton College haves partnered with the national non-profit the INTO LIGHT Project to create an exhibition of graphite portraits, personal items, and written narratives of 40 Massachusetts residents who have died of drug overdose or poisoning. The INTO LIGHT Project is working to organize an exhibition like this in every state.

Our goal is to help destigmatize overdose and substance use disorder and to open up the conversation about the opioid epidemic. The exhibition brings together medicine, mental health, public health, and visual and creative arts. We are using art to connect, humanize, and heal.

INTO LIGHT Project is national non-profit that creates exhibitions with portraits and stories of people who have died from the disease of drug addiction in each state. Their mission is to change the conversation about drug addiction through the power of art and storytelling. Wheaton College is the host of the Massachusetts exhibition. The people honored in this exhibition are from eleven Massachusetts counties and range in age from 18-39. We seek to eliminate the stigma surrounding substance use disorder and to address the misconception that people with addiction are to blame for their illness. Through portraiture and storytelling, the Into Light Project offers healing and hope and create meaningful dialogue about substance use disorder.

Exhibition Details

Beard and Weil Galleries, Watson Fine Art
Dates: August 27–November 8, 2024
Hours: Tu-Sa 1-5pm; Th 1-8pm; Su 10-5pm