INTO LIGHT Project drug addiction exhibit opens at Kauaʻi Community College

INTO LIGHT Project has installed its traveling exhibition "Drug Addiction: Real People, Real Stories" in the lobby of the Kauaʻi Community College Performing Arts Center, pairing hand-drawn graphite portraits with the personal narratives of people lost to drug overdose. The installation, completed in late January, frames substance use disorder as a public-health issue and a shared community concern rather than a private failing.

An event announcement said: "Everyone is invited to the opening reception of INTO LIGHT Project Hawaii exhibition, Drug Addiction: Real People, Real Stories, on Sunday from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center lobby." The exhibit is scheduled to remain on view from Feb. 1 through Apr. 30, 2026, at the Kauai Performing Arts Center, 3-1901 Kaumuali‘i Hwy, Līhu‘e.

Photographs of the installation work on Jan. 29 show Theresa Clower, founder and CEO of INTO LIGHT Project, unpacking portraits while Barbara Francois, the nonprofit’s chief operating officer, lines up framed images on the lobby walls. Several portraits for the Kaua‘i showing were done by Kaua‘i artist Carol Meckling, who is exhibiting with the Kauai Society of Artists Board of Directors Art Exhibit.

The exhibit aims to dismantle stigma and create space for healing and community dialogue. Tricia Allen, Hōʻike Kauaʻi Community Media Producer and Community Outreach Specialist, said, "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 added, "This exhibition is about honoring lives, building compassion and changing the conversation around addiction." INTO LIGHT Project frames that work with the mission line: "Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity."

Local partners are central to the show. Hōʻike Kauaʻi Community Media will produce related programming on Channel 54 and its YouTube channel to highlight INTO LIGHT Hawaiʻi, guide residents through submissions, and widen island awareness. Submissions are free and limited to the first 30 families; participating families will receive the original framed portrait of their loved one after the exhibit closes. The Garden Isle presentation will include four Native Hawaiian families who will be presented with framed portraits on March 31, the show’s final day, von Hausch said. "Several Hawaiians are featured in the show," von Hausch said. "Their families are invited to attend. On March 31st, the final day of the show, the families will be presented with the framed portrait of their loved one."

Organizers’ public listings show mixed deadlines for story submissions - one local announcement noted a Nov. 27 deadline while the INTO LIGHT Project listing reflects a Dec. 31 extension - and an Instagram post suggests daily hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is listed as free on promotional materials. Readers interested in attending, submitting a story, or confirming hours and deadlines should contact INTO LIGHT Project or Hōʻike Kauaʻi Community Media for final details.

For Kauaʻi residents, the exhibit offers more than art: it creates a forum to name loss, reduce stigma around substance use disorder, and prompt community-level responses to a persistent public-health challenge.