ByThom Bamford, originally published on I Love Manchester.
A new exhibition proves that creativity can be as transformative as treatment in the journey out of addiction.
In a modest recovery centre in Hyde, hammers, clay, paint, and even chickens have been reshaping lives. Over the past five months, ANEW, a community for people in recovery from substance use, has hosted something no other UK treatment service has tried before: an artist-in-residence.
At the heart of it all has been designer Joe Hartley, who spent five months working alongside more than 60 participants at different stages of their recovery process. Twice a week, they came together to see what art could mean for them. The result is ANEW Way to Peel an Orange, a vivid exhibition now open at Castlefield Gallery throughout Recoverist Month, until 19 October 2025.
ANEW Way to Peel an Orange
“It’s the first time in the UK that an artist has been embedded within a recovery organisation,” said Dominic Pillai, Curator of Social Engagement at Portraits of Recovery (PORe). ANEW Way to Peel an Orange is a Portraits of Recovery and Castlefield Gallery commission, developed and presented in partnership with ANEW.
“We wanted to explore the parallels between recovery and the creative process, but also to create a legacy where creativity becomes part of the culture at ANEW itself.”
ANEW Way to Peel an Orange
That legacy is already visible in the works now on display. There’s Horsepower, a six-metre spray-painted mural that takes the delicate tradition of Victorian botanical illustration and turns it into something bold and defiant. Pos and Negs, a series of handcrafted teapots that evolved into striking black-and-white photography, reflects transformation and cycles. And then there’s Foxmaster, a chicken coop made from scrap metal, its story told through video documenting the “Recoverist chickens” cared for by the group.
The titles might sound playful, but the works carry deep meaning. “Naturally, certain themes come through in every project we do,” said Dominic. “Connection, community, rebirth – they’re all central to the recovery journey. And you see those themes echoed in the art here.”
For participants, the project was less about making a finished product and more about being part of the process. “None of the work has a single voice – it’s collective,” Dominic explains. He recalls one session that set the tone for everything that followed.
“Joe had people making teapots out of clay. But instead of each person making their own, one person did the base, then passed it on, another did the spout, and another the handle. When they were fired, they fell apart. But rather than seeing that as failure, the group joked about becoming the teapots. So they posed in silhouette, and those photographs then inspired a whole new set of ceramic pieces. That’s how creativity and recovery work: it’s never about perfection, it’s about what emerges through the process.”
The creative process in recovery
For many, creative activities in recovery programmes have long been limited to colouring sheets or paint-by-numbers. Such activities might pass the time, but rarely change lives. Portraits of Recovery, founded in 2011 by artist and recoverist Mark Prest, is determined to challenge that.
“Contemporary art, thoughtfully conceived, has a powerful role to play in recovery,” Mark said. “I’ve been in rehabs where the only creative activity was colouring by numbers. That’s not art, and it’s certainly not going to help people redefine or progress their recovery journeys. This project shows what’s possible.”
Dominic agrees. “We see art as recovery – not as something separate from it, but part of it. For many people in recovery who are already creative, art is integral to their journey. Recovery is not an endpoint; it’s a lifelong process. Creativity works the same way. Both are about exploration, transformation, and never standing still.”
What has the impact of the program been?
At ANEW, the impact has been striking. “We’ve seen people go from early recovery to employment during the course of this project,” Dominic said. “Their journey through the programme has run in parallel with the creative process. Art gave them a sense of pride, purpose, and direction.”
Operations Lead John Platt admits he never saw himself as someone who would enjoy art. “But Joe’s expansive approach opened our minds to what creativity really is. It’s given people confidence, community, and plenty of smiles.”
For Katherine Light, who now works at ANEW after completing the programme herself, the sessions were about more than art. “Joe earned everyone’s respect simply by being himself,” she said. “He gave us freedom to be ourselves, to express emotions, to accept things as they are. That’s what recovery is.”
Joe Hartley himself describes the project as bittersweet. Four years ago, he lost his younger brother to substance use. “My brother never reached recovery, so I haven’t seen this side before,” he explains. “To witness the potential for growth and transformation has been highly emotional, but uplifting. It shows that struggles with substance use don’t always end the same way.”
What sets PORe apart is its activist ethos. The charity has always been about more than putting on art workshops: it’s about reshaping how society sees recovery itself.
“Recovery is a hidden community,” said Dominic. “There’s so much stigma and silence around addiction. We’re interested in visibility, in bringing people out of the shadows, challenging stereotypes, and showing that recovery is rich with creativity and culture.”
PORe uses the term “recoverism” deliberately. “We position ourselves in Manchester’s tradition of activism, from trade unions to the suffragette movement,” Dominic explains. “Recoverism is about making recovery visible and valued in the same way. It’s cultural, it’s political, it’s transformative.”
Recoverist Month: Manchester’s festival of resilience
That ethos comes together each September in Recoverist Month, a city-wide programme of exhibitions and events curated by PORe.
“It started in the US, but it’s not really celebrated here in the UK,” Dominic said. “We want it to be like Pride or Black History Month: something that is marked and celebrated nationally. So every September we work with Manchester’s major cultural institutions to showcase work made throughout the year.”
This year’s programme includes exhibitions at the Whitworth, HOME, and Manchester Museum, alongside ANEW Way to Peel an Orange at Castlefield Gallery. Each project is developed with recovery communities, and September becomes the moment when the work is shared publicly.
“We’re creating a culture where recovery is something to be celebrated, not hidden,” Dominic said.
Redefining recovery
Perhaps the most radical thing about ANEW Way to Peel an Orange is not the art itself but what it represents.
As Dominic puts it: “We’re not interested in art as decoration. We’re interested in art as transformation. And when you see that transformation happening in people’s lives, it’s extraordinary.”
For some, that transformation has already meant new jobs, renewed confidence, or the first spark of a creative identity. For others, it’s simply the discovery that recovery doesn’t have to be silent, private, or defined by stigma. It can be loud, collective, and celebratory.
And in the end, that may be the greatest artwork of all: recovery itself, reframed not as a story of shame, but as one of possibility and hope.
ANEW Way to Peel an Orange runs at Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, until 19 October 2025. Entry is free. You can find out more by clicking here.