Joy Slips In by artist Dolores Justus
Fenix Arts has a new exhibition opening this week.
The new show, titled Resilient Together: The Artist’s Journey through Liminal Space, opens Aug. 6, and includes work by nine artists.
The artists include locals Cindy Arsaga, Laurie Foster, Danielle Hatch, Pat Hennon, Aimee Papazian, Martha Guirl-Phillips, Barbara Satterfield, Dolores Justus, and Elizabeth Weber.
The group in 2019 started meeting monthly to help understand each other’s work on a deeper level. The meetings helped instill trust as they shared the most vulnerable parts of their work, according to a release.
From the group:
Looking back, it felt like providence when a few short months into this endeavor we all sheltered at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It seemed ironic that the artists in this group had consciously made the decision to move away from the isolation that is so common to how artists work. When the artists were able to reconvene in June, outside, distanced and masked, Martha Guirl-Phillips struck a nerve when she described our present existence: “We are living in liminal space, a transitory state of being. We stand on the edge of a threshold; we will be leaving one thing and someday will enter something entirely new,” she said. But at the time, the group was in the ambiguity of liminality; wondering what would be learned and how that would be expressed.
The post-vaccination gathering allowed for reflection, cast through the euphoria of resiliency, and a deep sense of gratitude for being a part of this group, which served as an anchor but with an unbound eye to the future. When the group came together to share the work, each artist felt a palpable sense of energy, a recognition that each had gone beyond her own part to that place of a harmonious whole.
An opening reception for the new show is scheduled from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 6. Guest musician Ozark Daughter (Traci Rae Manos) will provide entertainment during the event, and artist Danielle Hatch will perform live. In addition, the artists will speak about the experience of engaging with peer artists in creating their work during a panel discussion to be announced at a later date.
The exhibition will run through Sept. 25, and will be open from 3-7 p.m. Fridays, and from 12-7 p.m. Saturdays at Fenix Arts, located at 150 Skyline Drive inside Millar Lodge on Mount Sequoyah in Fayetteville.
For a bit more information, visit the Fenix Fayetteville Facebook page.
