When Rejection Becomes Acceptance

A month or two ago I submitted a proposal for a solo show at The Athenaeum in Old Town Alexandria, VA.  After being reviewed by the visual arts committee, I learned that my proposal was not accepted.  Rejection is never fun, but I have a very busy year ahead of me so it’s not the end of the world, I thought.

A day or two later I began exchanging emails with Twig Murray at The Athenaeum.  She had really enjoyed my work and was inspired to think about pulling together a small group show that would include my work, specifically my Polyclear series.  She asked if I would be interested in such a show.  Well, of course I would, I told her.  She asked me to provide names of any regional artists I knew who might be a good fit for the show.  I provided about a dozen names and she became very excited about the show.  It looked promising.

Almost simultaneously, The Athenaeum had a cancellation of their June/July show.  Twig thought we could propose our group show to fill the now vacant slot, that is, if we felt we could pull it off in less than a month.  Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I said that without a doubt we could pull it off.  Twig shot off a quick proposal to the committee and it was quickly accepted.  Time to contact artists!

We are still finalizing the artists for the show but it looks to be about 6/7 artists, including myself.  The show will open June 17 and run through July 31.  The opening reception will be on Saturday, June 19 from 4-6pm.

I realize I haven’t said what the show is about or who are the included artists.  I’ll provide those details when everything is finalized.  I can share with you the title of the show, “Of Itself: Medium as Message.”  The show will be co-curated by Twig Murray and me.

It’s impossible to know when opportunities will come your way.  The only thing you can do is prepare yourself as well as possible to take advantage of the opportunities when they appear.  My year, summer specifically, is shaping up to be extremely busy.  But it’s a good problem to have.  Thank goodness for my residency at Vermont Studio Center… had I not made so much work there it would be impossible for me to participate in so many shows this year.

In other news, I am hard at work in the studio creating pieces for my upcoming two-part solo show in Indianapolis.  I will be making 24 new paintings for one part of the show (8 are done now), and four for the other part (3 of which are done).  I’m very excited about how this work is shaping up.  Images to come soon.

[Wordpress won't allow me to add links right now, I will update this post with links later]