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Within Reach

right: Waiting for Next Spring left: Within the Same Bed by Jessica Bingham acrylic on canvas with dried flowers

Gray Habit by Melissa Oresky Acrylic, oil, and collage on canvas 21x27 inches

Opener by Melissa Oresky acrylic, oil, and collage on canvas 23.5 x 23.5 inches

Collections by Peytin Fitzgerald fiber, photo, lithe plate

The Woman that I Am by Shahrzad Hamzeh

Aren't Friends Great by Kay Bowen quilt

Shrimp Dancing by Su Ge ink on rice paper

Bridging Them by Erin Furimsky white earthen ware clay, metallic luster 10 x 22 x 4 inches

Contemplation of Building My Life by Barbie Perry wood, fiber, stainless steel, key rings, wire

It All Is by Jaci Musec abstract embroidery, hoop, garden materials

Copper Wire Cuff, Polymer Clay Pendant 1 and 2, Wire Wrapped Polymer Clay Pendant by Jen Bethmann

Within Reach installation shot

Within Reach

May 23 to August 12, 2022.

reception June 15, 4:00-6:00 p.m.

Within Reach curatorial statement

The time dedicated to problem-solving and creating an object goes beyond the physical object, it helps the mindset and the way we look at the world. We get to grow as a person by making and creating. This process does not require any specific materials. Visual art is not only big oil paintings and metal sculptures in museums. Whatever material exists in our homes can be the beginning of our creative journey. We can find visual questions and decisions around our residence, practice solving them, and get better at them. We can create around the house and make our homes more of a reflection of us. This process is a joyful and rich experience.

It is also very important to be exposed to art. Many conversations happen in art galleries around the artworks that can be helpful in people’s life. The skill of listening, being an audience, and participating in those conversations can be very formative in our lives. We can open up and share our experiences, work through our problems, revisit a life event or have closure for something in our lives through others’ lives and works.

Art can be a way of living, coping, and growing. It allows us to express and work through our feelings. It also allows us to start conversations and give others the opportunity to open up and share.

I invited friends to receptions for shows of my works in their 40s or 30s, they were attending an art show for the first time. However, it is never too late, but possessing art in their life’s toolbox could have happened much earlier. Galleries sometimes feel fancy or out of reach to people, but the truth is, being an audience for visual art is mostly free and within easy reach. I am inviting you to just walk in, the next time that you see a gallery on your way.

About the Joe McCauley Gallery

Exhibits, events, and parking at Heartland’s Joe McCauley Gallery are free. The Gallery is in room 2507 of the Instructional Commons Building (ICB) on Heartland's Normal campus, 1500 W. Raab Road.