For David Delaney and photographer Ciara Buckley, 12, a creative visual art installation exploring addiction, recovery and hope has been selected for the arts programme at Electric Picnic 2026.
Originally exhibited in County Laois, 12 was never intended to become anything more than an artistic exploration of recovery through portrait photography, personal stories and a collection of restored chairs from Cuan Mhuire transformed into works of art.
Instead, it became something much bigger.
Visitors lingered long after viewing the exhibition. Conversations began between strangers. People shared stories of addiction, grief, recovery and resilience. Families spoke openly about experiences they had never previously discussed. Others simply listened.
It became clear that people were searching for more than information. They were searching for connection.
“The exhibition showed us that recovery isn’t just about treatment,” said David Delaney. “It’s about being seen, being heard and belonging. We realised there was a real need for somewhere those conversations could continue.”
Among those whose story formed part of the original exhibition was Michelle Robertson. Through the conversations that followed 12, Michelle and David recognised a gap in community recovery support. Together, they co-founded the ARC Project (addiction. recovery. community.), a volunteer-led organisation dedicated to complementing existing services by connecting people with support, education and one another.
Two years later, the ARC Project has grown into a respected community organisation delivering free peer support meetings, family support, recovery coaching, counselling, prison-based programmes, education and community initiatives across County Laois.
While entirely volunteer-led, the ARC Project is run by trained and qualified professionals who freely give their expertise and lived experience to support others. David Delaney and Michelle Robertson volunteer as facilitators, while Ruth Miller provides strategic oversight, governance support and mentoring as the organisation continues to grow.
Working in partnership with Connect Laois and Healthy Ireland, the ARC Project is preparing to launch onTrack, a new recovery and wellbeing programme combining recovery support, family support, physical activity and health education. This year, the organisation also joined the delivery team for the Boxing Clever programme in the Midlands Prison and delivered a QQI Level 5 Community Addiction Studies programme attended by more than 40 participants.
Now, the story comes full circle.
The new Electric Picnic installation will feature a selection of portraits from the original exhibition alongside new work created through a subsequent collaboration with the Dara Project. Together, they reflect not only individual journeys of recovery but the ripple effect those stories have had within communities.
Rather than presenting addiction as a problem to be solved, 12 invites audiences to encounter recovery through empathy, creativity and conversation. It asks visitors to look beyond labels and see the person first.
“The greatest achievement of 12 isn’t that it’s going to Electric Picnic,” Delaney said. “It’s that it proved creativity can bring people together. The ARC Project exists because people walked into an exhibition and left believing they weren’t alone. If 12 can create those conversations again at Electric Picnic, then it’s doing exactly what it was always meant to do.”
As thousands of festival-goers experience 12, they will be engaging with more than an art installation. They will be stepping into the beginning of a story that continues to grow—one where creativity became connection, connection became community, and community became the ARC Project.
www.thearcproject.ie
