Substance use disorder recovery is frequently framed around abstinence, relapse prevention and symptom reduction. These goals remain essential, yet they do not fully capture the human work of recovery: the reconstruction of identity, meaning, belonging, emotional regulation and future orientation. This conceptual review proposes an Art-Based Recovery Capital Framework for addiction recovery. The article integrates recovery capital theory with art-based therapeutic and learning practices, arguing that creative expression can strengthen psychosocial and existential resources that support sustained recovery. The framework identifies five interrelated dimensions: symbolic self-awareness, affective regulation, identity reconstruction, relational belonging and purposeful action. These dimensions are not proposed as a substitute for evidence based clinical treatment, medication-assisted treatment, psychotherapy or peer recovery support, but as a complementary model that can enrich recovery-oriented systems of care. The paper also presents an eight-session implementation pathway, an evaluation agenda and ethical safeguards for trauma-informed use. The central contribution is to move from a narrow logic of dependence reduction toward a broader logic of meaning reconstruction. Recovery should not only ask how people stop using substances; it should also ask how they recover a life worth protecting, inhabiting and sharing.