‘Real People, Real Stories’: Powerful exhibit brings fight and suffering with drug addiction into the light

Hōʻike Kauaʻi Community Media is honored to partner with the national nonprofit INTO LIGHT Project to bring its exhibit “Drug Addiction: Real People, Real Stories” to Kauaʻi.

Garden Isle residents can add the stories of their loved ones and their fight with drug addiction to have them become part of the national tapestry and help others before it’s too late.

The powerful experience will be on display Feb. 1 through April 30, 2026, at Kauaʻi Performing Arts Center located at Kauaʻi Community College in Līhuʻe.

Hawaiʻi will be the 17th state to host this moving project. It will be the first time the exhibit has been shown on the Garden Isle.

“This exhibition is about honoring lives, building compassion and changing the conversation around addiction,” said Hōʻike Kauaʻi Community Media Producer and Community Outreach Specialist Tricia Allen in an announcement about the upcoming event.

Each exhibit features original, hand-drawn graphite portraits alongside deeply personal written narratives of people lost to drug overdose or poisoning.

The portraits and stories, together, humanize their subjects, who suffer substance use disorders, while they dismantle stigma and create space for healing, dialogue and community support.

Kauaʻi residents have until Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, to submit stories of their loved ones.

Submissions are free, limited to the first 30 families and those who participate will receive the original framed hand-drawn portrait of their loved one as a gift after the exhibit closes.

“By sharing these hand-drawn portraits and stories, we hope to encourage healing in our community and show that addiction is a disease, not a weakness of character,” Allen said.

Hōʻike will also produce programming on Channel 54 and its YouTube channel, highlighting INTO LIGHT Hawaiʻi, guiding residents through the submission process and helping spread awareness throughout the islands.

How to submit a story:

• Deadline: Thanksgiving, Nov. 27.
• Capacity: First 30 submissions from Hawaiʻi families.
• Cost: Free; participants receive the original hand-drawn portrait after the exhibit.
• Submit online: Click here.
• More info: Contact Terri Vano via email at tvano@intolightproject.org or call 828-775-9115.

The INTO LIGHT Project was founded in 2018 by artist Theresa Clower in 2018 after the loss of her son Devin to an accidental fentanyl overdose, beginning as one portrait to help her process her grief that has now grown into a national movement.