A content creator in Halifax is breaking down stigmas associated with recovery, but like a lot of addicts, she hit rock-bottom first.
“I drank very abnormally and in the bar scene downtown I got into drugs,” said Danielle Megaffin, the curator of the Museum of Addiction and Recovery. “Cocaine and party drugs and that was how I lived my life for 15 or 17 years.”
Megaffin said her moment of clarity came about two years ago after a concert in Halifax.
“I just remember falling to my knees on Argyle Street and it was so cold and I was on my knees and screamed out I need help, I just need some help,” said Megaffin.
Megaffin went into recovery and started a 12-step program but she also found therapy by making Instagram reels documenting her recovery and celebrating sobriety.
During her PhD in museum studies Megaggin used social media as a platform to help others recovering from addiction. Her Instagram account has more than 110,000 followers and she works with non-alcoholic brands. She puts the money she makes into her museum passion project.
“I decided to start this virtual online museum called the Museum of Addiction and Recovery.”
Megaffin was studying in London, England but she investigated the possibility of a physical space for art to be displayed while she planned her move back to Nova Scotia. She connected with Kristen Harrington who owns an art gallery out in Ingramport, N.S., and started creating the first show.
Now Megaffin is working with MTV star Brandon Novak who has a recovery and treatment facility in Philadelphia, Pa.
“We are installing a 65-piece art exhibition all from clients of the treatment centre,” said Megaffin.
Following the week-long exhibition, Megaffin will return home to Nova Scotia to plan a show in Halifax that features artwork created by recovering addicts in Atlantic Canada.
“The ultimate goal is to make the Museum of Addiction and Recovery a Nova Scotia based nonprofit, to work with people in the community and put on non-alcoholic events and art shows,” said Megaffin.
Megaffin said her goal is to put on three pop-up art shows a year. All of the events have been free to attend thus far.
“To go from giving up on your life to now being able to support other people in recovery and make them feel proud, makes me feel really proud,” said Megaffin.
Artists who are recovering from addiction who want their work featured in the Museum of Addiction & Recovery can reach out to Megaffin on the website.
For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
