Vision Board, a new exhibition featuring the work of 16 artists, is currently on display at Lydia Street Gallery. What made gallery owner Deanna Miesch decide to spend her summer organizing a show with so many different participating artists? “I really like to herd cats,” she says, laughing.
Miesch goes on to explain that the idea behind Vision Board is inspired by her day job. “You know, I'm an art therapist during weekdays,” she says. “And so I'm always fascinated by people's art processes. I had 16 artists, including myself. And, you know, there's not a whole lot of connection between them. So [I was] thinking about plugging them all together. The first thing I always think about is… everything that led up to their masterpiece. And I think a lot of people don't think about what goes into art making, you know? We live in a society where you can just order something at a push of a button and have it delivered the same day. And there's not much value placed in the making. But art is all about making.”
Miesch says she hopes the exhibition will make people think not just about the finished product, but the work and process behind the art. “Not all artists might use vision boards [but] they go through their own personal processes. And it's a mess and it's grueling. Or it can be fun, but it's their own processes. So we have a little glimpse of each artist’s process.
“If people go to Instagram,” Miesch says, “I've asked all the artists to send me, you know, anything that leads up to their work. So it might be their mess in their studio, their materials, their actual piece in various stages of completion.”
Miesch says the commercial art world’s focus on the finished product feels very different from the world of art therapy. “I think we don't value processes enough,” she says. “You know, in art therapy, it's all about process.The idea isn't that you make some masterpiece.
It's about understanding yourself and your place in the world and… trying to just live your life. I think that the viewer should be thinking about this more and hopefully the buyer, right? The people who are inspired to take the art into their home.”
'Vision Board' is on display at Lydia Street Gallery through September 10, with an artist reception Saturday, August 26, from 6-9 pm.
