room to grow tall

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“room to grow tall,” 2024

(courtesy of the Gallery)

Opening Reception: Friday September 6, 6PM – 9PM

FEATURING ARTISTS:

Bryce Manyfinger/ Singer, Dana Justine Belcourt, Darrell Spearman, Ella Thomson, Fatme Elkadry & Fern Facette, Ilsa Ahmad, Jasmine Piper, Lagomorphhh, Lan “Florence” Yee, Madeline LeBlanc, Rachel Lau, riel starr, Sahra Soudi, Sonali Menezes.

What if I fail at slowness? What if slowness fails me?

What do you dream for our space? For yourself? For each other?

room to grow tall gently embraces the practice of slowness. It looks to ease pulled from moments of healing and resistance, honoring exchanges of reciprocity without neglecting ourselves while we hold each other. Each work is a tentative promise that with time things will slow; to not sacrifice notions of playfulness in our urgency, to notice the things we walk through that provide us relief, and to nurture the time spent growing connection to our ancestors, stories, and cultures, while being met with the same patience that we extend. Our slowness acknowledges and respects the ways that we move, and the pace we can each keep. Our work makes room for slowness to linger, and room for grace when slowness fails.  Not without the pains we carry, but with a willingness to learn with care, and the reassurance that comes from noticing the things that feed us through patience and time.

Through late night instagram dms, meetings together across distance, and a shared discord channel we have asked each other: what does slowness mean?

It includes gently, clumsily, uncertainly, and forgivingly looking at our failures at slowness too. the times in our lives when slowness isn’t possible, wasn’t possible, or hasn’t been able to be a solution. We want to see each other’s tender recollections of slowness, our dreams of what it can be, our questioning of it. Our unfinished projects,  first attempts, big dreams, sweet memories, and mindful lessons, our questions unanswered, our good and imperfect intentions; what’s been felt and held from slowness. All the room we have to grow tall. And the reminders from each other.

Making Space is a visual-arts focused BIPOC peer mentorship collective. We prioritize collaboration and our individual agency through paid opportunities, resource sharing, access to mentorship, and a shared love of gossip, support, and privacy.