What If? | Public Works Art Center Studio Artist Exhibition

About this event

West Gallery | November 19th 2026 — January 16th 2027 | Opening Reception: November 19th 2026 from 5:30pm — 8:30pm

Featuring the works of:

Mary Hoffman

Anna Ladyzhenskaya

John Lindroth

Susan Lowcavage

Andrea Davis

Octavia Cohen

Joy Varley

Carole Bruno

Molly Carey-Dunkle

Britney Tyler

Beth Pomeroy

Exhibition Statement

A thriving community is more than a collection of buildings, businesses, and public spaces. It is a living network of people who imagine, create, question, make, and respond to the world around them. At the heart of that network are living artists.

This exhibition celebrates the studio artists and artisans who make their work here, in our community. Bringing together studio artists working across a range of practices and materials, the exhibition offers a glimpse into the creative energy that exists within our local art center—and into the many ways artists contribute to the life of a community beyond the gallery walls.

Artists are often thought of primarily as makers of objects: paintings, sculptures, photographs, textiles, ceramics, jewelry, or other works of art. Yet the role of an artist extends much further. Artists are observers, experimenters, researchers, storytellers, and problem-solvers. They look closely at what others may overlook. They question assumptions, embrace uncertainty, test possibilities, and find unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated ideas.

These are essential skills for a thriving community.

Creative problem-solving begins with the willingness to ask, “What if?” Artists routinely work without a predetermined answer. They experiment with materials, revise their ideas, respond to mistakes, and discover solutions through the process of making. This capacity to approach challenges with curiosity and flexibility can influence how communities think about everything from education and neighborhood development to environmental concerns, social connection, and economic vitality.

Local artists also help give a community its identity. Their work reflects the places where they live—their histories, landscapes, people, stories, questions, and aspirations. By creating and sharing their work locally, artists help us see our own surroundings in new ways. They create opportunities for conversation and connection between people who might otherwise never meet.

Supporting living artists is therefore an investment in the community itself. Studio spaces provide artists with places to develop their practices, sustain creative careers, teach, collaborate, and contribute to the cultural life of the region. When we support artists, we support the larger ecosystem of creativity that surrounds them: students and teachers, small businesses, makers, cultural organizations, audiences, collectors, and future generations of creative thinkers.

This exhibition invites us to consider not only what local artists make, but what they make possible.

The participating artists and artisans represent individual voices and distinct creative practices, yet together they demonstrate the collective value of having artists actively making, experimenting, and engaging within our community. Their studios are places of possibility—where questions become experiments, materials become ideas, and problems become opportunities for discovery.

At a time when communities are continually being asked to adapt and imagine new solutions, the presence of living artists matters. Their work reminds us that creativity is not a luxury reserved for the finished object or the gallery. It is a way of thinking, a way of connecting, and a way of moving forward.

This exhibition is an invitation to recognize, celebrate, and support the artists among us—and to consider how much more vibrant our community becomes when creativity has a place to live.