“Contemporary times force us to contend with twenty-four-hour news cycles of unending loss, grief, pain, and struggle. As artists, we turn to our studios to aid in processing what we bear witness to and experience firsthand. Making allows us to operate from a central point of vulnerability, inviting us to compassionately open our minds, embrace love, and move forward with tangible and unyielding optimism. As Be Oakley suggests in Radical Softness as a Boundless Form of Resistance, allowing ourselves to embrace a full spectrum of soft emotionality becomes an act of defiance when operating from within individualist, oppressive systems.

With this iteration of FRESH, we strive to bring together a cohort of artists whose work meets this urgent call for softness in a harsh world. Art uniquely holds the ability to educate and enact change within our communities. Through their work, artists act as catalysts for community care, using craft to cultivate empathy, dialogue, and social change. FRESH: Soft Offerings features a diverse range of artworks whose tactile and conceptual forms of care invite audiences into a shared space of emotional resonance. Media includes print media, painting, sculpture, fiber and textiles, performance, video and sound, etc.

By situating this exhibition within the heart of Akron, a Rustbelt city that has long embodied resilience and strength— we aim to investigate how radical softness offers an avenue toward community healing and regeneration. It is within our praxis’ softest moments of vulnerability that potential for radical and enduring change lies.” – Curators Abby Cipar & Julie Polsinelli

In the spirit of the overall exhibition concept for this year, Summit Artspace will be donating a portion of all artwork sales to local organization Let’s Grow Akron. These funds will not only support its initiative to provide opportunities for Akron locals to grow, prepare, and preserve their own food but also support the work of local emerging artists.