A surprising and beautiful thing happened when I attended our 2021-2022 Emerging Artists Opening Exhibition. Despite having had the pleasure of meeting our fellow grantees (as much as possible due to COVID restrictions and precautions) and connecting online- I felt that I was really getting to know these amazing artists. Adam is an introvert and will happily never speak in public or meet anyone new, he’s what we call a “Social Vegan” – he avoids meet. 😉
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So, I typically end up the voice and face of Dimple’s Days, as I am an extremely extroverted introvert. (that’s a whole other blog post) Yet the night of the exhibition changed all of that.
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I was wandering around getting lost in all the amazing work surrounding me and found that I understood Teresa’s pieces in much greater depth, despite having her descriptions and communicating for months and I immediately felt Heather’s pain and grief as her pieces enveloped me in anguish and love, all at once. Dorian’s work really made me think and while I could go on and on about each one of my fabulous fellow grantees, I’m going to try to stick to the point.
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It felt as though all those amazing artists had written their story and wrapped it up inside their work. I feel that I learned more about my fellow grantees through their work than their words, in the most incredible way. It was as though, in our talks, emails and ZOOM meetings, I saw their pieces, but in person, I felt their passion.