Millersville University will present "Into Light: Remembering Addiction Deaths" from Friday, March 5, through Thursday, March 25, in the Lyet Lobby at the Ware Center, 42 N. Prince St., Lancaster. This art exhibit will feature the work of Into Light, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting and remembering the toll of the opioid epidemic. In honor of the exhibit, We The People First Friday will host "Aspects of Opioid Addiction and Prevention - Community Panel Discussion," a free webinar, via Zoom on March 5 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Registration details for the panel will be posted at http://www.artsmu.com.

On display through the windows of the lobby will be 32 graphite portraits of people from across Pennsylvania who have died as a result of drug addiction. Written narratives about their lives, as well as directions to video adaptations of their stories, will accompany the portraits. Readings of each of these stories have been recorded by members of the M-Uth Theatre ensemble. The full exhibit of portraits and these accompanying narratives will be online at the aforementioned website throughout the month of March.

The community discussion will be moderated by Barry Kornhauser, assistant director of campus and community engagement at Millersville University. The panel will include Gwen Burkholder, a part of the Millersville University School of Social Work and coordinator of the Opioid Workforce Expansion Program, licensed clinical social worker and certified alcohol and drug counselor; Theresa Clower, Into Light founder and artist; Scott Theurer, chairperson of the Lancaster County Recovery Alliance and certified recovery specialist at TW Ponessa; Eric Kennel, executive director of Compass Mark, a science-based addiction prevention agency; and Alice Yoder, executive director of community health for Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health.

Through its work in communities across the country, Into Light's mission is to put a human face on substance abuse disorder through hand-drawn portraits by Clower and written narratives by board member Barbara Francois, to erase the stigma and shame of drug addiction so those with the disease will seek the quality care they need, and to educate the public about addiction as a disease. Pennsylvania is the fourth state to host an exhibit as part of the organization's goal of offering exhibits in all 50 states. More information is available at http://www.intolightproject.org.