AUGUSTA, GA – People’s lives are continuously changing and transforming depending on the individual choices made each day.

This is the concept behind a new art program called Set in Stone offered to the residents of Hope House, Inc., a local treatment facility that serves women 18 years and older who primarily suffer from substance abuse.

“The idea behind Set in Stone, the title itself, is that so much of our lives is like clay,” said Rosemary Forrest, the grants coordinator for Hope House and a local potter. “We can remold it and we can remake it because clay is a very forgiving material, that is until you put it in the fire, and then it becomes ceramic and you cannot change it. Then, it is literally set in stone.”

During January and February of this year, the residents of Hope House met weekly to learn the art of making ceramic tiles as part of a class sponsored by a grassroots art program grant provided by the Greater Augusta Arts Council.

“I had the ladies create tiles and decorate them and all of the tiles reflect something about the women who made them,” Forrest said. “We have all women residents here. Most of the residents that I work with are in a substance abuse program. Some of the tiles reflect where they are in their recovery. A lot of them reflect hope and peace.”

Other tiles took on a very personal message about the artist’s life, she said.

“Some of them were family tiles that showed relationships that were important in their lives,” Forrest said. “But I think it was really touching the way they brought their experience to the artwork. This was not so much about technique as it was about working with the medium and producing something wonderful.”

While Hope House has approximately 42 females at its long-term residential treatment facility, about 50 women over the course of the two-month program participated in the ceramic classes. An exhibit of the stone ceramic tiles will be on display at the Metro Spirit gallery at 700 Broad Street on First Friday, June 4.

The show will also be on display at Earth Fare on Furys Ferry Road from June 16-30.

“A lot of these women are learning that their lives are moldable and they can make changes,” Forrest said. “There comes a point in all of our lives that the choices that we’ve made and the changes that we’ve made do become set in stone. So this was sort of an outward reflection of that.”

While these ceramic tiles will not be for sale, the program has benefited the residents of Hope House tremendously, Forrest said.

“The women here are in a highly structured program,” Forrest said, explaining that Hope House has been helping women and women with children deal with substance abuse for about 18 years.

“So we try to provide them art programs that can be helpful. The Art Factory works with them once a week and they do various sorts of things, but they have never worked with ceramics before so this was a little different. Most people find clay very therapeutic.”

Hope House primarily serves three populations of women: homeless single women, pregnant women and women with children, many who are seeking to regain custody of their children.

Hope House also has a supportive housing program for women with disabilities.

“The women really enjoyed this art program,” Forrest said. “They learned working with clay that if you can make changes before you put it in heat, than go ahead and do it because it makes for a better finished product.

“During the class, a lot of them would say, ‘No, no no. It is set in stone now. You can’t make changes,’ or ‘Go ahead and make the changes now before it is set.’ I think they learned what it took to make a product they were truly proud of and that was a huge benefit to them.”

For more information about Hope House or to make a donation to the facility, visit hopehouseforwomen.org.

Set in Stone
Metro Spirit Gallery
Friday, June 4
6-9 p.m.
Free
hopehouseforwomen.org