Art exhibit at Natick’s Morse Institute Library highlights tragedy of opioid addiction | MetroWest Daily News, September 9, 2018
Originally posted in the MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA on September 9, 2018. By Henry Schwan
Across from the Children’s Room at the Morse Institute Library, a powerful art exhibit remembers lives lost to opioid addiction.
NATICK – Helen Bellomo’s life changed forever when she lost her son Nick to an opioid overdose.
“I will always have a broken heart,” Bellomo said, standing in front of artwork she created that hangs in the basement of the Morse Institute Library.
The collage includes pictures of Nick, including one in a kayak that highlights his love of the outdoors. Others capture Nick with his two brothers. Short notes written by his parents and brothers express emotions for Nick on the day of his funeral.
Nick suffered a fentanyl overdose on July 17, 2017. He was 24. The collage is one of 10 pieces in the exhibit. Each tells the story of a loved one who died of an opioid overdose or is currently in recovery.
The exhibit is on display through October and is sponsored by SOAR Natick (Supporting Outreach and Addiction Recovery), and The Journey, a support group in Natick for those who lost someone to drug addiction.
The Opioid Project: Changing Perceptions through Art and Storytelling helped bring the exhibit to Natick. Artist Nancy Marks and physician Annie Brewster started The Opioid Project two years ago. The program gives families a creative outlet to share their stories of loss, raise awareness about opioid addiction and reduce its stigma. Go to theopioidproject.oncell.com to see the Natick art, and hear from the artists.
“I am one of the lucky ones,” Cathy Miles, the only artist in the Natick show who didn’t lose a loved one to opioid addiction, said as she stood in front of her collage. Her daughter, Amanda Miles, is in recovery.
A National Honor Society student and accomplished swimmer at Framingham High School, Miles went off to college and became addicted to opioids in her sophomore year.
The “catalyst,” Cathy Miles said, was a man her daughter dated who used and sold drugs. After a five-year battle with addiction that included treatment in several rehabilitation facilities, Cathy Miles said her daughter came to her one day and said, “I want my life to be more than (an addiction).”
Clean for more than two years, Amanda Miles has a job and lives with a boyfriend she met in recovery.
Cathy Miles acknowledged feeling guilty that her daughter survived while others living with the demons of addiction didn’t.
