top of page
HUMANITY
There are times when it feels like we are at a crossroads where ethical questions take center stage throughout humanity. And lately, we have been faced with addressing cultural, social, political, and economic inequalities like never before. This tipping point represents our touchstone for the worth of human life, dignity, and freedom for all. HUMANITY comes at us hard, reflecting on topics like mental illness, cultural expectations, love, greed, loss, scandal, and SO much more. Here we explore the deeper aspects of injustices, beauty, and life's simplicity, all wrapped up in one impactful exhibit.
Best of Show-Lining Up
Tom Hessel
Minnetonka, Minnesota
silverpoint drawing
Minnetonka, Minnesota
silverpoint drawing
Director's Choice-Asylum Seekers Walking (Country Store Interior, USA)
Gary Westford
Salem, Oregon
oil/panel with vintage screen door, scale, wall, and floor
From inside a country store in the USA, a family of asylum seekers from another country are seen walking in the sun. An open vintage screen door displays a metal bread sign advertising MASTER white bread. A old wall scale holds a bag of peanuts. A young girl clutches her cloth bear and peers inside.
Salem, Oregon
oil/panel with vintage screen door, scale, wall, and floor
From inside a country store in the USA, a family of asylum seekers from another country are seen walking in the sun. An open vintage screen door displays a metal bread sign advertising MASTER white bread. A old wall scale holds a bag of peanuts. A young girl clutches her cloth bear and peers inside.
Director's Choice-Denny
Jonathan Murrill
Vinton, Virginia
charcoal
Vinton, Virginia
charcoal
Glitter is the Herpes of the Gay Community
Stevan Dupus
San Marcos, California
oil and glitter on canvas
San Marcos, California
oil and glitter on canvas
History Repeats Itself. American Travel Bans
Susan Clinard
Hamden, Connecticut
wood, ceramic, acrylic
All figures mark different periods of the past to the present where banning groups of people to and within the US was based in varying degrees of fear. The line of sculptures could have been much longer but the point was to see the pattern across cultures and time. Yes, history will repeat itself but at what cost? Fear is the building blocks of racism.
Hamden, Connecticut
wood, ceramic, acrylic
All figures mark different periods of the past to the present where banning groups of people to and within the US was based in varying degrees of fear. The line of sculptures could have been much longer but the point was to see the pattern across cultures and time. Yes, history will repeat itself but at what cost? Fear is the building blocks of racism.
Refugee Abstract #5
Margaret Jo Feldman
San Francisco, California
free motion embroidery on canvas
Recent descriptions of the perilous crossings by refugees affected me deeply. This series uses a found photograph of refugees on a boat. I want to create a first impression that reads as purely aesthetic and challenge that assumption with embedded details that hint at the human condition.
San Francisco, California
free motion embroidery on canvas
Recent descriptions of the perilous crossings by refugees affected me deeply. This series uses a found photograph of refugees on a boat. I want to create a first impression that reads as purely aesthetic and challenge that assumption with embedded details that hint at the human condition.
Carol
Peggy Magovern
Danville, California
colored pencil, wax, oil pastel
Strong, but also vulnerable.
She is both these things
because by feeling vulnerable,
she knows what bravery truly is
Danville, California
colored pencil, wax, oil pastel
Strong, but also vulnerable.
She is both these things
because by feeling vulnerable,
she knows what bravery truly is
US, A Nation
Buena Johnson
Los Angeles, California
pencil & collage
Surrealist composition dealing with America's history of racism, enslavement, injustices, greed & capitalism w/animals symbolic of deceit, betrayal, trickery, untrustworthiness, etc.; the Preamble-upper left, Door of No Return in clouds-upper right; Auction house+Statue of Liberty as chained slave.
Los Angeles, California
pencil & collage
Surrealist composition dealing with America's history of racism, enslavement, injustices, greed & capitalism w/animals symbolic of deceit, betrayal, trickery, untrustworthiness, etc.; the Preamble-upper left, Door of No Return in clouds-upper right; Auction house+Statue of Liberty as chained slave.
Double Joy
Eva Crawford
Charlotte, North Carolina
watercolor
These women are named Joy and are from opposite ends of the world. Contrasts in skin color, culture, and nationality are thoughtfully collaged and then watercolored to create a unified image. The realism of the torn edges emphasize brokenness in communication and understanding of humans with one another. The paper can not be fixed, but becomes forever mended in one painting as a sacred offering for unity.
Charlotte, North Carolina
watercolor
These women are named Joy and are from opposite ends of the world. Contrasts in skin color, culture, and nationality are thoughtfully collaged and then watercolored to create a unified image. The realism of the torn edges emphasize brokenness in communication and understanding of humans with one another. The paper can not be fixed, but becomes forever mended in one painting as a sacred offering for unity.
Entwined
Hannah Cole Dahar
Manchester, New Hampshire
oil on panel
Manchester, New Hampshire
oil on panel
Executive Order 9066
Susan Zimmerman
El Cerrito, California
fiber: thread, paper, cardboard
Inspired by Dorothea Lange’s and Hung Liu’s portraits of the Mochida family waiting for transport to an internment camp, this pays homage to Japanese Americans forced to relocate during World War II. All materials constructed by the artist, including luggage and historically accurate ID tags.
El Cerrito, California
fiber: thread, paper, cardboard
Inspired by Dorothea Lange’s and Hung Liu’s portraits of the Mochida family waiting for transport to an internment camp, this pays homage to Japanese Americans forced to relocate during World War II. All materials constructed by the artist, including luggage and historically accurate ID tags.
The Split
Dave Manousos
Sutter Creek, California
acrylic on canvas
Humanity as a collective or an individual. Just as there are two sides to every story, we all have our good and bad sides.
Sutter Creek, California
acrylic on canvas
Humanity as a collective or an individual. Just as there are two sides to every story, we all have our good and bad sides.
Visible
Sarah Means
Peoa, Utah
oil on canvas
As a former east coaster, I have learned a great deal living in the west. This is my expression of some of my new understanding and cultural awareness. None of us should be invisible.
Peoa, Utah
oil on canvas
As a former east coaster, I have learned a great deal living in the west. This is my expression of some of my new understanding and cultural awareness. None of us should be invisible.
Project : pills
Shoko Tanaka
Springfield, Oregon
glazed ceramic, acrylic paint
The sculpture consists of two components; "figure" without body which is bending over a pile of pills. The figure is trying to swallow the hundreds of pills just as a man drinks from a pool of water in the desert.
Springfield, Oregon
glazed ceramic, acrylic paint
The sculpture consists of two components; "figure" without body which is bending over a pile of pills. The figure is trying to swallow the hundreds of pills just as a man drinks from a pool of water in the desert.
Who Will Buy My Flowers?
Janet Powers
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
photography
Wizened woman in Myanmar holding up a string of jasmine that she is selling.
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
photography
Wizened woman in Myanmar holding up a string of jasmine that she is selling.
Tibetan Woman
Jay Johansen
Rancho Santa Fe, California
oil on canvas
Rancho Santa Fe, California
oil on canvas
The Personal Is Political
Brenda York
La Mesa, California
acrylic and mixed media
The personal is political was a rallying slogan of the feminist movement in the 60s and 70s. It underscored connections between personal experience and larger social structures. And, as I began exploring the personal narrative of motherhood, I soon recognized that the personal is political. Always.
La Mesa, California
acrylic and mixed media
The personal is political was a rallying slogan of the feminist movement in the 60s and 70s. It underscored connections between personal experience and larger social structures. And, as I began exploring the personal narrative of motherhood, I soon recognized that the personal is political. Always.
Determined
Carole Goodwin
Denver, Colorado
digital painting
A portrait of determination done in black, white,and red.
Denver, Colorado
digital painting
A portrait of determination done in black, white,and red.
The Immigrants
Mavis Gibson
Belleair, Florida
oil on canvas
Belleair, Florida
oil on canvas
Anna-Louise
Nancy Jo Ward
Santa Maria, California
mixed media
Santa Maria, California
mixed media
Sins of My Father Will Never Expire
Tony Armadillo
Corpus Christi, Texas
oil
If an adult robs an establishment and has his kids with him, are the kids sent to jail as well? If the adult enters the country w/o permission are the children guilty as well? Arriving as kids and decades in the US, with many serving in the military they fear removal from their only home - the USA.
Corpus Christi, Texas
oil
If an adult robs an establishment and has his kids with him, are the kids sent to jail as well? If the adult enters the country w/o permission are the children guilty as well? Arriving as kids and decades in the US, with many serving in the military they fear removal from their only home - the USA.
A Joy Funeral
Zijun Zhao
New York, New York
ink, pastel and color pencil on paper
It is my understanding of death, even a good wish, again sting the traditional Chinese culture of "the joyful death". The mainline's meaning and expression are pushed from the lower right corner to the upper left corner.
New York, New York
ink, pastel and color pencil on paper
It is my understanding of death, even a good wish, again sting the traditional Chinese culture of "the joyful death". The mainline's meaning and expression are pushed from the lower right corner to the upper left corner.
The Thinker: Reexamined
Alyssa Sciortino
Lexington, Kentucky
oil on canvas
Lexington, Kentucky
oil on canvas
40 Years; The Conversation
Molly Mackaman
Malden on Hudson, New York
clay-based wall paint on birch panel
These figures just appeared on my board as I painted. What began as a purely abstract painting evolved into two men. They've been together for 40 years. They've had wild times, flush times and rough times, ups and downs, but they've stayed together. Today they're older, calmer, and having a conversation. Perhaps it's heated. I can't tell.
Malden on Hudson, New York
clay-based wall paint on birch panel
These figures just appeared on my board as I painted. What began as a purely abstract painting evolved into two men. They've been together for 40 years. They've had wild times, flush times and rough times, ups and downs, but they've stayed together. Today they're older, calmer, and having a conversation. Perhaps it's heated. I can't tell.
Gentle Men on the Street
Marie Bergstedt
San Francisco, California
cotton, polyester, nylon, eco-felt, buttons, needlepoint canvas
In respect and recognition of street musicians who do not fit into the acceptable norm of society. Although they see little financial reward and waver between being residents and urban campers, they play their hearts out and live for their passion.
San Francisco, California
cotton, polyester, nylon, eco-felt, buttons, needlepoint canvas
In respect and recognition of street musicians who do not fit into the acceptable norm of society. Although they see little financial reward and waver between being residents and urban campers, they play their hearts out and live for their passion.
SUPPORTING THE ARTS
Giving back is the foundation of our culture at Art Fluent. We are pleased to have donated to art organizations across the United States since we began in 2020. We are grateful to continue our support to these tremendous businesses doing unseen work in the name of the arts!
bottom of page