November 10, 2018 through December 05, 2018

In Gratitude

Son ©Tone Elin Solholm

Please join us for the Artists’ Opening Reception on Saturday, November 10th from 5-8pm

In Gratitude

November 10 – December 5, 2018

Juror: Laura Valenti

Congratulations to the photographers accepted into In Gratitude.

Angela Douglas Ramsey • Sally Bowker • Jim Congleton
Norma Cordova • Terry Donnelly • Gloria Baker Feinstein
Joni Kabana • Sally Kim-Miller • Tone Elin Solholm
Kathleen Malan Thompson • Sam Blair • Peggy Taylor Reid
Stan Raucher • Thomas Robinson • Julie Moore
Michelle Swanson • Terry Thompson • Charlotte Watts

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The Benedictine monk David Steindl-Rast reminds us that it’s not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratitude that makes us happy. Can we invite more happiness into our lives by photographing the things we’re thankful for? I like to think so. I spent a very challenging season of my life focused on this practice. Making images of gratitude was a sacred, healing touchpoint – a daily reminder that good still exists, that there really is beauty in the world.

As artists, we have the privilege of being able to create the world we’d like to live in – at least in our images. What if we consciously created a world filled with love, connection, beauty, and hope – a world where we celebrate the little things that bring us joy? What if we made images with the express intention to help others see beyond the horror in the news cycle and the stress of daily life? What if we considered our photography a gratitude practice?

In a way, each click of the shutter is a moment of gratitude – a way of honoring something we’re lucky enough to see. This exhibition is an invitation to look back at your past works (and to create new images) with the theme of gratitude in mind. What brings you alive? What makes your life more meaningful? What little moments of beauty and connection fill you with happiness? What makes you feel grounded, safe, at peace? I so look forward to seeing your answers to these questions – your images of gratitude.

- Laura Valenti


Laura Valenti is the founder of Light Atlas Creative, an online platform for transformative photography education. She teaches interactive e-courses, supports emerging photographers in her creative mentoring program, speaks to photo groups, and curates exhibitions for galleries and photo festivals around the world. At core, her work is about helping her students find their true voice as artists, so they can make their most personal, meaningful, and wholehearted work. 

Laura has been a photographer, curator, arts director, and educator for about 20 years. She worked for 15 years in the nonprofit art world, most recently as Outreach Director at Photolucida – an organization that works to build connections between photographers and the gallery and publishing worlds. Before that, she was Program Director and co-Curator at Newspace Center for Photography, where she also taught black-and-white darkroom. She often serves as a professional reviewer at various portfolio review events, where she helps photographers fine-tune their vision and promote their work with more confidence.

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