Brush With the Law - Community Art

02/12/2026

This is the last week to see Under the Microscope at the Montgomery County Community College Fine Art Gallery in Blue Bell, PA. Under the Microscope is an immersive sculpture about how it feels and what it looks like to be a caretaker for someone struggling with addiction and mental health diagnoses and seeing how the system is designed against you.

Medium - microscope slides, laser print on transparency paper, magnets, wood, metal, light

Fine Arts Center Blue Bell Campus
340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell, PA
Gallery Hours
Monday-Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday: Noon to 5 p.m.
Sunday: Closed

06/20/2024

I’m curious about what your life would have been like had you not discovered art and creativity?
And if there’s a specific moment in your life you can pinpoint where art really has mattered to you and made a difference for you…

Bill Murray: “Well, I think it would be back when I started acting in Chicago. I wasn’t very good. And, I remember my first experience on the stage; I was so bad, I just walked out on the street and started walking. And I walked for a couple of hours, and I realized I’d walked the wrong direction. Not just the wrong direction in terms of where I live, but the wrong direction in terms of a desire to stay alive. And so I, this may be a little bit not completely true, but it’s pretty true - that I walked, I then thought well if I’m going to die where I am, I may as well just go over towards the lake and maybe I’ll float for a while after I’m dead. So, I walked over towards the lake and as I got there I realized I’d hit Michigan Avenue. And I thought, well, Michigan Avenue that runs north too. And so I started walking north and I ended up in front of The Art Institutte of Chicago and I just walked inside and I didn’t feel like I had any place being there. And they used to ask you for a donation. You know when you walk into a museum and I just walked right through because I was ready to die and, I felt pretty much dead. And I walked in and there’s a painting there and I don’t even know who painted it. I think it’s called ‘The Song of the Lark’, and it’s a woman working in a field, and there’s a sunrise behind her, and I’ve always loved this painting. And I saw it that day and I just thought well, look, there’s a girl that doesn’t have a whole lot of prospects, but the sun’s coming up anyway, and she’s got another chance at it. So I think that gave me some sort of feeling that I too am a person and get another chance everyday the sun comes up.

The painting titled “Song of the Lark” is an oil on canvas from 1884 by Jules Breton

04/02/2024

Reflecting on an inspiring day at Penn Foundation
last Thursday, where Maria Maneos , artist, and director of Brush With the Law had the honor of presenting the “Under the Microscope” project.
Grateful to BWTL board member Ryan Schweiger for the invitation for facilitating this meaningful exchange. Sharing this work with clients, rehab participants, and fellow alumni was a poignant reminder of the power of community and the arts in healing and connection.
Each story, each interaction, was a thread in the vibrant tapestry of recovery and hope we’re weaving together.

For more on the project, visit mariamaneos.com

02/02/2024

We are honored to be a part of this funding stream! Thank you Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and PA Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is pleased to announce the awardees of the 2023-2024 Creative Sector Flex Fund, a program of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. In this round of funding, 80 organizations received $5,000 each for a total of $400,000 in grants to support small arts and culture organizations across Southeastern Pennsylvania (Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, Delaware, and Philadelphia counties). Congratulations to all of the recipients! The next round of the Flex Fund will open in Summer 2024. Learn more at www.philaculture.org/flexfund2023-24

01/19/2024

Things you wanted to say but never could is a project by

Words written in pic below-

My mom was a drug addict and an alcoholic she was never a mother by society standards to me or my sisters. However, we never once doubted if we were loved. She had such an immense amount of care and love for her girls. She was constantly fighting her addiction, and we eventually had to distance ourselves from her.
The last time I saw her, I hid and ran away from her thinking she would come back like she always does. She later died from overdose face down and alone in a stranger’s kitchen. I failed as a daughter to return the same love and compassion she never failed to show me even at her lowest.
This will forever be my biggest regret. I love you, Rita.

01/14/2024

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service with Theatre Horizon

Join us Monday, January 15th for an annual Day of Service Walk/Run hosted by the RUNegades and Runner's Punk, led by Amon Gibson. This will be the 3rd straight year that TH has been the kickoff location for this annual MLK Run/Walk & Community Clean Up. Hope to see you there!

12/22/2023

This is Ryan, a community advocate, recovery specialist, a Brush With the Law board member, and all around great friend and person to have in your corner.
His words are powerful and true.
Thank you for creating the “Disrupting the Narrative” series.

Ryan Schweiger, CRS, CPS, CPRP, St. Luke’s Penn Foundation (SLPF) behavioral health community liaison specialist, was also named by Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie to the seven-person Bucks County Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee. Commissioner Harvie selected members of the Bucks County community who have backgrounds in human services, substance abuse prevention, and public safety.