Up To Date

How This Kansas City Artist Conquered His Addiction

By Steve Kraske,

Published December 14, 2020 at 4:39 PM CST

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Kansas City based oil painter and illustrator Wes Benson says he paints what he finds beautiful.

After a long battle, Kansas City artist Wes Benson conquered his addiction to opioids. He tells his story hoping it will help others do the same.

Today, he runs a secular AA group called “Freethinkers,” aimed at helping people empower themselves to recover from addiction. He also sponsors several addicts and cautions them not to backslide during a pandemic, when it’s especially easy to do so.

Wes Benson, artist and addiction survivor

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Steve Kraske

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.

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Chris Young

Chris Young is an Assistant Producer for KCUR’s Up To Date. Contact him at chrisy@kcur.org.

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Mackenzie Martin

Whether it’s something happening right now or something that happened 100 years ago, some stories don’t fit in the short few minutes of a newscast. As a podcast producer and reporter at KCUR Studios, I help investigate questions and local curiosities in a way that brings listeners along for adventures with plot twists and thought-provoking ideas. Sometimes there isn’t an easy answer in the end – but my hope is that we all leave with a greater understanding of the city we live in. Reach me at mackenzie@kcur.org.

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