Creative energy, the possibility of transforming what has been into what can be, flows through us all, individually and collectively.
What can happen in a community created to nourish this energy? What can happen in a space built for sharing our work in progress, that encompasses all forms of creativity, that allows for practicing and playing out loud? A space that feels not temporary, not built for a purpose of self improvement, but built to nurture and sustain creative expression, as a means of processing life, of asking questions, of being curious, of looking for new paths and possibilities?
What happens if we come together with a focus on exploring rather than achieving? How might creating in community differ from creating on our own? What could a new structure hold? What could it help us to see?
We were, at our beginnings, an ad hoc community of creatives, in the early days of Covid19. We were curious about the possibility of a sustained community built for the purpose of creative nurture, a venue where creative exploration — sharing the unfinished, the process, the struggle, the celebrations — was encouraged.
Having never met in person, we have shared our work, our practice, our experiments, our challenges, our celebrations in community with each other for the past year. In this space we have seen our work spark the work of others. We have seen ideas arise, inspire, and take on a life of their own. It seems as if our work enters a conversation with the work of others and it all increases in depth, richness.
Having shared work in progress for over a year, we had never seen the finished works side by side. We had a hunch that seeing them this way would help us to understand ourselves, our own community, what we are doing, how we do it, and its value to us, and to the work itself, in a new way.
We also felt ready, excited, to open the doors of a virtual gallery, to share some of the work of our community with the wider world.
Our Creative Gallery is a place that allows us to share the work that we’ve made, the work that is ready, alongside each other. It is a journey and a celebration. It is also a record and an invitation. A way to point to what is possible when people show up and share with each other what they are creating.