New Curatorial Project

One of the greatest joys of my career has been creating spaces where art becomes more than something we observe—it becomes something we experience, inhabit, and carry with us. Throughout my years as a curator, educator, and creativity facilitator, I have been drawn to artists whose work opens doors to wonder, connection, and transformation. Wes Bruce is one of those artists.

This spring, I had the privilege of curating HeartSpace, an immersive installation by Wes Bruce at Citizens' Hall in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, as part of Berkshire Art Center's inaugural HeartSpace Artist Residency.

From the moment visitors approach the building, it is clear that something extraordinary has happened. Creativity seems to spill from the walls, climb the staircases, and emerge from unexpected corners. Citizens' Hall—a beloved historic building that has served generations of artists and learners—has been transformed into a living work of art.

Yet HeartSpace is about much more than aesthetic transformation. It is an invitation.

Wes asks us:

What seeds wait within you? What flourishing rests just below your surface? What futures can we create from our histories?

These questions resonate deeply with my own work exploring creativity as a pathway to self-discovery and well-being. Like many of the retreats and workshops I facilitate, HeartSpace encourages us to pause, notice, and listen to what is emerging within ourselves.

Wes describes his work as an exploration of "the immersive, enveloping qualities that painting and architecture share—their dialogue and conversation, and the ways they invite, transform, and transport us." Throughout the installation, staircases, doorways, and thresholds become powerful metaphors for transition and possibility. Through painted surfaces, sculptural interventions, found objects, and poetic gestures, he reveals the softness hidden within rigid structures and uncovers new ways of relating to familiar spaces.

As a curator, I am particularly interested in art that creates opportunities for participation rather than passive observation. This spirit is central to the HeartSpace Residency itself. The program was designed to support artists who view creativity as a vital form of communication, connection, and community-building. Through public programs, workshops, and collaborative experiences, HeartSpace extends beyond the gallery walls and invites people of all ages into the creative process.

One of my favorite aspects of this project is Wes's Drifting Studio, a traveling, interactive art space installed outside Citizens' Hall. Equal parts studio, playground, and gathering place, it offers open-ended creative invitations that encourage experimentation, imagination, and shared making. Children, families, artists, and curious passersby become co-creators, reminding us that creativity thrives when it is accessible, playful, and communal.

At its core, HeartSpace embodies something I have come to believe deeply: creativity is not a luxury. It is a fundamental human capacity. It helps us make meaning, navigate change, build relationships, and imagine new possibilities for ourselves and our communities.

Curating this project with Wes has been a beautiful reminder that art can transform not only spaces, but also the people who move through them.

If you find yourself in the Berkshires this season, I invite you to visit HeartSpace. Wander slowly. Notice what calls to you. Pay attention to the thresholds, the poetry, the unexpected details. And perhaps ask yourself the same question that lies at the heart of the installation:

What wants to grow within you?

HeartSpace is on view at Berkshire Art Center’s Citizens' Hall in Stockbridge, Massachusetts as part of Berkshire Art Center's inaugural HeartSpace Artist Residency.