a fervent and necessary arrangement is our Spring 2025 juried exhibition juried by André Ramos-Woodard. Taken from the poem Sometimes by Mary Oliver, a fervent and necessary arrangement explores the emotional unknown between life and death.

Art has always been a vessel for what words struggle to contain. Whether a piece is meant to stir something in the viewer or act as an exhale for the artist, raw emotion grounds so much of what we make.

Judging this exhibition, I wasn’t just looking for technical skill or conceptual depth. I was looking for feeling. I was drawn to works that held space for vulnerability; works that didn’t just perform emotion but embodied it. Some pieces demanded attention with their intensity, others whispered with quiet ache, but each carried the weight of something deeply felt.

This selection is a testament to the urgency of expression. It reminds us that feeling—whether it be grief, joy, rage, or tenderness—is necessary. That art isn’t just a reflection of our inner lives but a way of making sense of them.

Thank you to every artist who submitted. Your willingness to share something so personal, to put feeling first, is what makes this show powerful.

— André Ramos-Woodard