Participants in Kamloops recovery program find hope, joy, in spray paint

Behind the Phoenix Centre addiction treatment clinic in Kamloops, B.C., there's an old shed covered in colourful new murals of flowers and forest animals. But it's not just the art that is brightening up the area — it's the story behind the spray paint.

Brad Mulherin says creating art with his rehab partner Brody Hartford on the peeling shed has given them both hope and happiness while recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. 

"I've been working on murals and ... with spray paint for about 22 years," Mulherin recalled, adding he'd brought some spray paint to the centre when he started his detox program about a month ago, but was initially told it wasn't allowed in the building. 

After a friend in Penticton who runs the gallery where Mulherin owns his studio sent the centre some photos of his work, Mulherin says the staff "got really excited" and allowed him to paint the shed in the parking lot.

Mulherin said his passion for art sprang from drawing comics as a child. He turned to spray painting graffiti in high school before finishing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Alberta College of Art and Design — now the Alberta University of the Arts — in Calgary.

When his mother became sick with cancer, Mulherin turned to substance abuse and his health went downhill, he said. 

"But my passion for art and painting, making clothing, doing design work and painting live at music festivals definitely kept me from being in a worse situation," Mulherin explained.

Likewise, Brody Hartford, who wasn't originally an artist, said working on the "incredible" mural project helped him discover "a talent I didn't know I had." 

After three days in his rehab program, Hartford began to realize how bored he was, he said with a laugh. 

"So when Brad told me was going to paint the shack, I looked at it and right away my … carpenter brain was like, 'well that paint's all flaky … and we need primer!" he recalled.

They began by using flat stones to scrape away the old paint, before a couple of the facility's cooks arrived to offer them griddle spatulas. 

Mulherin says he's hopeful that their project will inspire others who are struggling with addiction to tap into their own creative potential and help them to realize the full benefits of what people can accomplish while sober. 

Hartford likened learning to spray paint to standing on his first wave while trying surfing a few years ago. 

"Just in the moment, absolutely present … calm, but still engaged and excited at the same time. It's magical," he described.