Dream Show

Specialty Rolled Metals
becomes an impromptu
gallery, May 5, 2011
Photo taken with permission.

I recently had a dream that I was in a vast maze of art galleries filled with people. We wandered wide-eyed past an array of paintings, sculptures, fiber pieces, drawings, pots, and other artworks in many different media.

When we looked at them, some of them would suddenly grow larger, or become more brilliantly colorful, or they would begin to glow.

Sometimes they came off the wall or down from the pedestal, to mingle and interact with us, to the delight of all.

Looking in the window of the
Arts Incubator from 18th Street in
the Kansas City Crossroads,
March 3, 2006.

Thinking about it afterward, it seemed to me that this dream offered an apt metaphor for the way I sometimes feel about viewing an interesting art exhibition.

One piece of art alone may “speak” to a person—but a whole, coordinated gallery full of artworks, curated around a theme, can sing in a wonderful chorus to an attuned viewer.

Make it a point to go look at some art soon: maybe you’ll find such a “chorus.”

PHOTOS: I took both of these photos during different First Fridays in the Kansas City Crossroads (see dates). They are available for use under a Creative Commons license, which specifies they should not be altered, and should be published with credit given to me as the photographer.