On March 16th participants in the Rescue Mission Recovery Program will be the Featured Artists at a special reception to display their pottery at 2nd Helpings Gallery.
The participants, most of whom spent years trapped in drug and alcohol addiction before joining the Mission’s Recovery Program, will be on hand to meet and greet customers, give pottery demonstrations, and share how their experiences in the pottery studio have impacted their recovery.
Jennifer Mulligan, a retired lawyer and college professor, is the Studio Coordinator for the Recovery Program. “When I retired, I really missed teaching. Now, I get the opportunity to work with people who are working hard to change their lives by teaching them pottery. It is a wonderful opportunity for me to share a journey of personal and artistic growth,” says Mulligan.
As part of the 14-month Recovery Program, participants take classes focusing on practical skills as well as life lessons. Pottery classes bring a different perspective to those life lessons as individuals learn patience, anger management, and the feeling of success from making something out of nothing.
“Out of all the life lessons I’ve learned working with clay—and there are lots of them—the most important is to accept that things don’t have to be perfect,” says Recovery participant Mark Walters. “I think you should strive for excellence, but as Jennifer says, ‘perfection is the enemy of excellence.’ I’ve learned to savor the success I feel when I make something from nothing and it’s really excellent. It has helped me see into my future.”
2nd Helpings Gallery is hosting the event in conjunction with “Roanoke Valley Gives Day,” an initiative of Foundation for Roanoke Valley to raise money and awareness for participating local non-profits, including the Rescue Mission, over 24 hours.
On March 16 from midnight to 11:59pm, donations to the Mission through the Roanoke Valley Gives Day website (rvgives.givebig.org) will go directly to provide shelter and food for people in need.
The reception will be from 5:00-6:30pm on March 16th. Afterwards, people are encouraged to make a night of it with dinner at Fork in the Alley or Fork on the Market, which will donate part of their profits that day to the Rescue Mission. The exhibit will be on display at 2nd Helpings the entire month of March.
