Rising from addiction drives artist's phoenix sculpture in Huntington

A Long Island artist hopes her 13-foot-tall stainless-steel structure of a phoenix in Huntington’s Heckscher Park can inspire those dealing with drug and alcohol addiction or mental illness.

Smithtown-based Susan Buroker’s "Hope & Healing” sculpture, which also features an 8-foot wingspan, represents rebirth and the ability for transformation, she said. The piece was unveiled this month atop a hill between the Harry Chapin Rainbow Stage and the park’s playground in honor of September being National Recovery Month.

"This is not a memorial; this is for someone to get inspiration whether you’re dealing with addiction, lost a loved one to addiction or have mental illness,” Buroker said.

The piece features panels that are waterjet cut — a process that creates openings in the metal to allow light to flow through — with more than 100 messages of hope and encouragement submitted from the community.

Provisional data from the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Support shows  6,358 state residents died of a drug overdose in 2022, and 2,003 died from alcohol-related causes. The data also shows that of the people admitted to treatment programs in 2022, the most, 45.9% were there because of alcohol abuse, followed by heroin at 23.9%.

The panels each highlight a theme: loss, addiction, inspiration, recovery, healing, family and community. Each September additional messages written on ribbons will be added to the sculpture.

Patricia Ferrandino, director of clinic operations for the Huntington-based Family Service League and a member of the Town of Huntington Opioid and Addiction Task Force, said the sculpture is reminder that recovery is attainable.

"Although there is so much doom and gloom around addiction, there’s hope that you can heal and you can get better,” Ferrandino said. "You just need to ask for help and there are people who can guide and help you.”

Buroker said she attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, drug treatment program meetings and spoke to parents to draw inspiration. She said it took six months to create the piece, which was funded through $30,000 in donations from the community. Buroker donated her time but the money paid for her two assistants and the materials.

She said the sculpture creates a space to have a dialogue about a serious issue.

"As a community together change can happen,” Buroker said. "We can provide a space to talk about this without stigma. My biggest desire is to treat addiction as a disease and get rid of the stigma.”

Town board member Sal Ferro, who worked with the town board and the Opioid and Addiction Task Force to commission the sculpture, said it is vital to acknowledge those who are struggling with addiction and mental health struggles.

"With love and support we can remove any stigma and replace it with compassion and empathy to help them recover,” he said.

Buroker said visitors to the sculpture can scan a QR code that leads to a website, opioidandaddictiontaskforce.com, to get resources and to read all of the more than 200 messages that were submitted.