Recovery in Practice: Full Schedule

5:30pm EDT

Opening Remarks - Welcome Reception

Thursday April 17, 2025 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT

Richmond, Virginia was officially named the first Inclusive Recovery City in the United States in October 2024. The Board, composed of people with lived experience and allies from multiple agencies and perspectives across the City. The RVA IRC aims to bridge the recovery and broader communities and highlight all of the fantastic work already being done by recovery community organizations.

Thursday April 17, 2025 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
1708 Gallery 319 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA

6:00pm EDT

The Creative Coalition Recovery Banner Unveiling

Thursday April 17, 2025 6:00pm - 6:15pm EDT

1708 Gallery

The Creative Coalition, a support group for artists and creatives hosted by Rams in Recovery at VCU, will unveil a new, community-created banner for the recovery community in Richmond. By showcasing our many talents and strengths through creative practice, the group aims for the banner to act as a tool for growth and self-discovery, allowing us to break down social stigmas and develop a greater understanding of ourselves and the support we may need. This banner will serve as a visual reminder of the power of unity, whether it’s within a recovery group or our shared City of Richmond.

Speakers

Ella Floyd

Research Assistant, Peer Recovery Specialist, VCU School of the Arts

Ella Floyd is an interdisciplinary artist and research assistant based in Richmond, Virginia. Reigning from the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Southwest Virginia, Floyd left her rural practice to study Photography + Film at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the... Read More →

Thursday April 17, 2025 6:00pm - 6:15pm EDT
1708 Gallery 319 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA

6:15pm EDT

Keynote: Free Ice Water

Thursday April 17, 2025 6:15pm - 7:30pm EDT

1708 Gallery

John Freyer (Artist, VCU School of the Arts) & Margaret Stratton - 90 Minutes - This opening event will begin with a conversation between Margaret Stratton and John Freyer about how their experiences in recovery shape and inform their current creative practice. Audience members will then have their own 20-minute one-on-one “Free Ice Water” conversations about turning points in their lives. The event will end with a brief Q&A and the completion of the audience’s Free Ice Water jars for display during the conference.

Speakers

John Freyer

Associate Professor Cross Disciplinary Media, VCU School of the Arts

John Freyer is an Associate Professor of Cross Disciplinary Media at Virginia Commonwealth University. Freyer serves on the Advisory Committee for Rams in Recovery and is a Peer Recovery Support Specialist. His projects include the Free Narcan Bike, All My Life for Sale, Free... Read More →

Thursday April 17, 2025 6:15pm - 7:30pm EDT
1708 Gallery 319 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA

8:30pm EDT

All Recovery Meeting

Thursday April 17, 2025 8:30pm - 9:30pm EDT

Rams in Recovery Clubhouse, 1103 W Marshall St

Speakers

John Freyer

Associate Professor Cross Disciplinary Media, VCU School of the Arts

Thursday April 17, 2025 8:30pm - 9:30pm EDT
Rams in Recovery Clubhouse, 1103 W Marshall St

8:00am EDT

Recovery Roast Tasting Event

Friday April 18, 2025 8:00am - 8:45am EDT

Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University

Free Hot Coffee/Recovery Roast Coffee Tasting - Join artist John Freyer and our local coffee partner for a special coffee tasting event. Participants will taste a variety of coffees from to finalize a new Rams in Recovery edition of Recovery Roast. This coffee “cupping” event will introduce participants to the rich history of coffee and the complexities of roasting, tasting and enjoyment. We will also taste editions of Recovery Roast from our project partners in the UK and across the country.

Speakers

John Freyer

Associate Professor Cross Disciplinary Media, VCU School of the Arts

Friday April 18, 2025 8:00am - 8:45am EDT
Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University 601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA

9:00am EDT

Recovery, Creative Practice and Decarceration

Friday April 18, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am EDT

Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University

Join Kasey Anderson, Sarah Shotland, Dziko Singleton and Dyan Neary for a conversation on recovery, creative practice and decarceration.

Speakers

Dziko Singleton, CPRS

Comprehensive Harm Reduction Program Co-Coordinato, Health Brigade

Dziko Singleton, a self-described "social norms disruptor", is a lifelong Richmond resident and a Black woman in long-term recovery. She currently serves as co-coordinator of the largest harm reduction program in Virginia and is also a racial equity and Hep C/drug user health consultant... Read More →

Kasey Anderson

Deputy Director, Portland Alano Club

In his own words, Kasey is a “gradually retiring songwriter” whose songs have been covered by Counting Crows, Star Anna and others.In addition to his work at the Alano Club, Kasey has continued to write and record music — most recently working at Jackpot! Studios in Portland... Read More →

Dyan Neary

Investigative Reporter and Professor of Journalism, West Chester University of Pennsylvania

Dyan Neary is an investigative reporter and professor of journalism at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Her feature stories and essays have appeared in New York Magazine, Elle, the New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Writer’s Digest, NPR, and elsewhere, with a... Read More →

Sarah Shotland

Director of Madwomen in the Attic, Carlow University

SARAH SHOTLAND is the author of the novel Junkette, and the nonfiction project Abolition is Everything. Her writing for the stage has been performed in theaters nationally and internationally. Sarah co-founded Words Without Walls in 2009, which brought creative writing workshops to... Read More →

Friday April 18, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am EDT
Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University 601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA

10:30am EDT

Artistic Journeys: Creativity and Recovery

Friday April 18, 2025 10:30am - 11:45am EDT

Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University

A panel discussion featuring VCUarts faculty member Paul Thulin and artists Elizabeth Huey, Grace Bromley, Erin Williams, and Margaret Stratton will focus on their journeys as artists in recovery. The panelists will share personal stories, talk about their artistic processes, and explore how recovery can play a significant role in their creative practice.

Speakers

Elizabeth Huey

Artist

Born in Virginia, Elizabeth Huey earned an MFA from Yale University and a BA in Psychology from George Washington University. She studied painting at both the Marchutz School in Aix-en-Provence, France and the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture in Manhattan... Read More →

Erin Williams

Professor, Parsons School of Design and Hunter College

Erin Williams is the author and illustrator of ten books, including What's Wrong? Personal Histories of Chronic Pain and Bad Medicine, Commute: An Illustrated Memoir of Female Shame, How to Take Care and the Big Activity Book series (250k+ in print). Her writing and art have also... Read More →

Grace Bromley

Artist

Grace Bromley (b. 1994, USA) is a Richmond, VA based artist. Born and raised in Chicago, IL, she attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a BFA in Painting and has received her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Spring of 2024. She is a multidisciplinary... Read More →

Paul Thulin-Jimenez

Associate Professor of Photography + Film, Virginia Commonwealth University

Paul Thulin-Jimenez is an associate professor of Photography + Film. He uses analog photography, digital montage, appropriation and various alternative materials to explore the contextual and material constructs of history, cultural identity, consumerism, memory and myth. Thulin-Jimenez’s... Read More →

Friday April 18, 2025 10:30am - 11:45am EDT
Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University 601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA

1:30pm EDT

Trans Poetics: Recovery & Care

Friday April 18, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT

Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University

Join VCU Creative Writing faculty SJ Sindu for a discussion with three transgender poets in recovery—K. Iver, Chase Berggrun, and Samuel Ace—about how their experiences with transgender identity, poetic expression and recovery intersect.

Speakers

SJ Sindu

Assistant Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University

SJ Sindu is a Tamil diaspora author of two literary novels (Marriage of a Thousand Lies, which won the Publishing Triangle Edmund White Award; and Blue-Skinned Gods, which was an Indie Next Pick and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award), two hybrid chapbooks (I Once Met You But... Read More →

Samuel Ace

Writer and Sound Artist

Samuel Ace is a trans/genderqueer writer and sound artist. He is the author most recently of I want to start by saying (Cleveland State University Poetry Center), Our Weather Our Sea (Black Radish), Meet Me There: Normal Sex & Home in three days. Don’t wash. (Belladonna* Germinal... Read More →

Chase Berggrun

Writer

Chase Berggrun is a trans woman poet and educator. She is the author of R E D (Birds LLC, 2018), and the chapbook Somewhere a seagull (After Hours Editions, 2023). Her poems and essays have appeared in American Poetry Review, Poetry Magazine, Poem-A-Day, The Nation, and elsewhere... Read More →

K. Iver

Writer

K. Iver (they/them) is a nonbinary trans poet born in Mississippi. Their book Short Film Starring My Beloved’s Red Bronco won the 2022 Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry from Milkweed Editions. Short Film won the Wisconsin Book Award and was shortlisted for the L.A. Times Book Prize... Read More →

Friday April 18, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University 601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA

2:45pm EDT

Books: big, small and true - Writers in Recovery

Friday April 18, 2025 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT

Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University

Join writers Chris Brunt, Carvell Wallace, Alex Watson & Josh Galarza for a conversation about their work as writers, poets, educators and editors. Learn how their experiences in recovery impacts the way they work and engage with their practice.

Speakers

Carvell Wallace

Writer

Carvell Wallace is a writer and podcaster who has contributed to The New Yorker, GQ, New York Times Magazine, Pitchfork, MTV News, and Al Jazeera. His debut memoir, Another Word For Love (MCD, 2024), explores his life, identity, and love through stories of family, friendship, and... Read More →

Chris Brunt

Syracuse University, Professor

Christopher Brunt is the author of the poetry collection WAR AT HOME (Saturnalia Books, 2024), a finalist for the Alma Book Prize. His poetry, fiction, and essays have been featured in Ploughshares, The Nation, Oxford American, Fugue, Meridian, Copper Nickel, the Cincinnati Review... Read More →

Alex Watson

Writer

Alexandra Watson is a fiction writer and poet from Syracuse, NY, currently based in Newburgh, NY. She’s the executive editor of Apogee Journal, a publication providing a platform for marginalized artists and writers to explore identity and its intersections. For her work with Apogee... Read More →

Josh Galarza

Writer, "The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky"

Longtime Montessori educator Josh Galarza writes fiction and creative nonfiction, and is a multidisciplinary visual artist specializing in printmaking and book arts. His research centers around male gender performance, queer issues, body liberation, and Chicano studies. His debut... Read More →

Friday April 18, 2025 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT
Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University 601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA

6:00pm EDT

Free Hot Supper

Friday April 18, 2025 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT

Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University

Free Hot Supper is a simple supper for invited guests, including individuals who participated in Recovery in Practice programming, and additional guests from the broader recovery community, including persons who belong to or provide services for communities affected by addiction. Dinner will be coordinated by Jason Alley and the Richmond members of “Ben’s Friends,” a support network for food and beverage industry professionals who struggle with substance abuse and addiction, to develop a simple, locally-sourced menu, served in an environment with communal seating that allows for participants to dine and engage in dialogue.

Friday April 18, 2025 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University 601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA

7:00pm EDT

Reading Recovery

Friday April 18, 2025 7:00pm - 8:30pm EDT

Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University

Join visiting Recovery in Practice speakers and Richmond Community members for a special reading of poetry, memoir and short story excerpts.

Speakers

Carvell Wallace

Writer

Samuel Ace

Writer and Sound Artist

Chase Berggrun

Writer

Chris Brunt

Syracuse University, Professor

K. Iver

Writer

Sarah Shotland

Director of Madwomen in the Attic, Carlow University

Erin Williams

Professor, Parsons School of Design and Hunter College

Alex Watson

Writer

Friday April 18, 2025 7:00pm - 8:30pm EDT
Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University 601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA

9:00am EDT

Dance Workshop for Healing and Connection

Saturday April 19, 2025 9:00am - 10:30am EDT

Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University

The dance class/workshop for Recovery in Practice is inspired by the idea of allowing feelings and facts to coexist, rather than being separated, in order to facilitate a processing space between the two. Through guided movement, improvisation, journaling prompts, and sharing, participants are encouraged to explore the connection between their physical experiences and emotional responses, fostering a sense of community and connection. The class structure can be adapted to different timeframes and individual physical needs, making it accessible to people with varying levels of dance experience.

Saturday April 19, 2025 9:00am - 10:30am EDT
Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University 601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA

10:30am EDT

Write Your Life - Community Writing Workshop

Saturday April 19, 2025 10:30am - 12:00pm EDT

Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University

Join author and educator Valley Haggard as she hosts a unique writing workshop designed specifically for individuals within the recovery community. This workshop promises to provide a safe and welcoming space for participants to explore their experiences through writing. Whether you are a seasoned writer or someone who has never picked up a pen before, Valley Haggard invites you to come and join us. No prior experience is required. Don't miss this opportunity to connect with others in the recovery community and embark on a creative exploration with Valley Haggard as your guide.

Speakers

Valley Haggard

Writer

Valley Haggard is an author, teacher, energy worker, and spiritual life coach with twenty + years in 12-step recovery. A Reiki master and Shamanic Reiki practitioner, she combines energy work and other healing modalities with expressive writing in sacred circles and healing narrative... Read More →

Saturday April 19, 2025 10:30am - 12:00pm EDT
Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University 601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, USA