It was my great pleasure to bring together this group of artists from so many fabulous submissions!

There are several threads that link these creative voices, the first being a sense of joy and playfulness in the work. There is an abundance of vivacious color in these images and a palpable pleasure in the act of making. Nature is an inspiration for a number of painters, but not one of them is depicting the innocent Eden of the art history books. Even painter Laura Colomb or sculptor Sandra Lapage, who are lamenting changes to the landscape around them, still create with such verve and enthusiasm that they feel like optimists.

There is also a dynamic gesture, movement, and patterning in the show, which suggest an energetic unfolding and create visual density. The figurative artists selected contributed evocative depictions of the human form, yet they are interpretive, and opinionated. What we are looking at are obviously artworks, commenting on their subjects, adding layers of narrative and critique to the topic at hand rather than just depicting it verbatim.

Within the group there is also a sense of longing and mystery that feels idiosyncratic and fresh. In the work of Fern Apfel, Gabe Langholtz, and Rebecca Wu, there is an affecting quirkiness to the narrative, and a glimmer of opportunity, maybe missed, maybe in the future.

Above all, the artists selected work with such attention to their craft, whatever the medium. They are masters with brushes, fibers, polymers, and recycled metals. They are adding emphatically to the discourse around the culture of our time. In the process, they are helping to create a lasting record of our human joy and optimism, as well as the disquiet that life in this particular moment in time holds for us all.