October 26 – December 1, 2024
GRO welcomes visiting artists Pat DaRif, Ileana Soto, Joanne Weis, and Valerie White, and their exhibit, Make A Way. These four artists share their passionate concerns for voting rights in a lively and emotional exhibit of tactile fiber art.(The practice is also called art quilt, surface design, collage, mixed media, and textile art.) The images are made with cloth, paint, dye, photo transfer, silk screens, stich, patterning, and the written word. Brightly colored images are hung in the gallery like paintings, telling stories of voting history.
The concept for this exhibit began with zoom conversations among the four women, a place they could share their alarm and outrage at the Supreme Court’s repeal of voter protections in southern states and more recent state laws restricting votes for the poor, the elderly, and for Black, Latino, Native American and other minority voters. From this beginning, they formed an exhibit that expresses outrage, alarm, and also hope for change. The title honors Civil Rights icon John Lewis who said of his tireless work: “We called (our work) ‘making a way out of no way,” . . . we knew without any doubt that somebody who was greater than us all would make a way out of no way and protect the defenders of truth.”
In their commitment to Democracy, the artists created a democratic exhibit. They replaced political argument with heartfelt concerns about our country. Their visions and voices hail from both red and blue states, and from diverse backgrounds, family histories, research projects, and ethnicities, expressed in their varied styles.
“As we struggle with the current reality, we hope to educate and promote community interaction and conversation. The story of voter suppression is the story of how delicate and fragile our democracy is.” —from the “Make a Way” artist statement
