The Gainesville Fine Arts Association presents our Biennial National Juried Exhibition: Attending to Wonder

“To those devoid of imagination a blank place on the map is a useless waste; to others, the most valuable part.” 

-- Aldo Leopold, Conservation Esthetic, A Sand County Almanac.

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“When the eye is graced with wonder, the world reveals its wonder… Everything depends, really, on the way we gaze at things. Engaging the world this way illuminates the world in a way we’ve never noticed.”

-- John O’Donohue, Beauty & the Invisible Embrace

 

There is a deficit of wonder that belies our truest relationship with ourselves and the world around us. Living as though separate from our surroundings strips us of a larger, perhaps more mythic, tradition that has sustained human meaning and belongingness. We live in a world moving ever-faster with greater efficiency, where everything is documented and catalogued, where little room is given to notice mystery and find moments of wonder. The American naturalist, Aldo Leopold, thought the human spirit required the existence of places of great imaginative power and mystery, as these cultivate a deep connection between individuals and their world by providing room for contemplation and appreciation. Such room is necessary if we are going to find wonder that “illuminates the world in a way we’ve never noticed.” 
 

Logan Marconi

Guest Curator

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JURORS
Logan Marconi, Guest Curator, Gainesville, FL
Amory Abbott, Assistant Professor of Art, Emily Carr University, Vancouver, BC
Lauren Hill, Curatorial Assistant, UMLAUF Sculpture Garden and Museum, Austin, TX
 

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