Time to Remember, Time to Act #ioao2023

August 31, 2023 (Chesapeake Beach, MD)- Join the Mayor and Town Council, Twin Beach Opioid Abuse Awareness Coalition and Calvert County Advocacy Partners this evening to honor the memory of our loved ones lost to overdose death. The Glow Vigil will be held from 7:30-9:00 PM at the North Beach Pavilion featuring guest speakers, "We See You" First Responder Recognition, an unveiling of the Overdose Awareness Memorial Sculpture Project models and memorial reading of names. 

International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died from overdose, and acknowledge the grief of the family and friends left behind. The IOAD 2023 theme “Recognizing those people who go unseen” is about acknowledging people in our communities who are affected by overdose but might go unseen in the crisis. Today and everyday, let’s acknowledge and support the people in our communities who go unrecognized by raising awareness of the hidden impacts of overdose and promoting education of overdose response. 

Spreading Awareness Through Art: 

The Twin Beach Opioid Abuse Awareness Coalition (TBOAAC) announced that after an initial round of scoring of sculpture applications, four artists/artist teams were selected to move on to round two of the selection process. For round two, each artist or team was awarded $1,500 to construct a scale model of their sculpture and present them along with their artistic concepts to the selection committee for a final round of judging. The models were unveiled at a small reception on August 18 and are fabulous! The final sculpture design selection will be announced at the TBOAAC Glow Vigil on August 31, 2023 at the North Beach boardwalk pavilion. Once the winning sculpture design is announced, the artist/team will have one year and $30,000, pending funding approval from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) 2024 Public Art Across Maryland Grant Program to complete the sculpture. The full-size sculpture will be unveiled on August 31, 2024 in its permanent installation at the Mark R. Frazer Sunrise Garden in North Beach, MD. 

Congratulations and best wishes to all four artists/artist teams who made it to the final selection round of the TBOAAC Overdose Awareness/Memorial Sculpture Project – “Their Lives Matter”!  

Photo of sculpture finalists (left to right): Ali Mirsky, Christopher Duffy, Thomas Sterner, James O’Neil, and Gary Jameson.

Shown above are the artists and their models of the sculptures for committee review and final selection. 

TBOAAC thanks the Maryland State Arts Council, CCHD Local Behavioral Health Administration, Town of North Beach, and Town of Chesapeake Beach for their support of this project. 

TBOAAC Sculpture Project Coordinator: Sandy Mattingly 

TBOAAC Chair: Town of Chesapeake Beach Councilman Keith Pardieck

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