We invite you to walk with us as we transform our understanding of, and approach to the overdose crisis – both in the Comox Valley and beyond. The artwork and audio created through the Walk With Me project can be accessed on a drop-in basis:
September 30 – November 21 2020 (with the exception of closure on November 11th)
Wednesdays + Saturdays / 10am – 4:30pm
COVID protocols will be followed.
On these days, activities at the Gallery will include Community Conversations, Food-Sharing, Artist Talks, Speakers, Healing Circles, a Film Screening, Panel Discussions, Policy Discussions, Story Walks and more. See below for more information on noon-hour activities at the gallery.
11am – 12pm / Bridge Walk
12pm – 1pm / food, panels, and discussions
1pm – 2pm / Alley Walk
Registration for the Bridge and Alley Walks is encouraged – visit the Walk With Me project website or contact the Gallery to reserve your space.
Drop-ins are welcome as space allows.
UPCOMING EVENTS
See Story Walks.
PAST EVENTS
Saturday, October 3
12-1pm, Comox Valley Art Gallery Plaza
Printing Social Change
Join artist Gabrielle Moore-Pratt in pulling screen prints of the Walk With Me stamp – an image symbolizing collective listening and action around the overdose crisis. Bring a t-shirt or other clothing item to print at a station set up outside on the CVAG Plaza. Here we draw upon the history of screenprinting as a medium for awareness-raising and community action, to call attention to the need to walk alongside those at the centre of the crisis. The event includes food and community conversation.
Wednesday, October 7
12-1pm, Comox Valley Art Gallery Plaza
Naloxone Saves Lives
AVI Health and Community Services outreach worker Galen Rigter leads a community training session on Naloxone – an injectable drug that can reverse opioid overdoses of such drugs as fentanyl, morphine and heroin and oxycondone. Learn how to spot an overdose, and how to quickly respond.
Saturday, October 10
12-1pm, Comox Valley Art Gallery Plaza
Lived Experience and Creative Practice
Join a group of lived experience participants, along with artist Patrick Dionne, as they show and talk about the piece they’ve developed for the CVAG Window Gallery. Dionne is a Montreal-based artist who creates photomurals, photomontages and photo animations through deep community activation. His work brings people together to tell and listen to stories, testimonials and unofficial anecdotes, and honours them through creative practice.
Saturday, November 21
12-1pm, Comox Valley Art Gallery
Guy Felicella: Harm Reduction in the age of COVID
Guy Felicella speaks to his lived experience and advocates for change. Felicella grew up in a middle class home in Richmond but fell into addiction at a young age. He spent 30 years in the repeated cycle of gangs, addiction, treatment and jail. He spent nearly 20 years residing in the two block radius in the Downtown Eastside and using many resources, including harm reduction, to keep himself alive. Today Guy has escaped the grips of the turmoil that kept him suffering and resides with his wife and two young children with multiple years of recovery and sobriety under his belt. He is passionate about advocating for people who still suffer in addiction and educating communities on harm reduction to eliminate the stigma. Guy’s talk will draw attention to the impacts of COVID-19 on the overdose crisis, and will challenge our ongoing culture of stigma.