CoFlourish

…humanity has been through [pandemics] numerous times, and has survived. We have survived through practical means — social quarantines, disinfecting — but also by reaching out to one another, with all due precaution, and helping each other. Human solidarity is what gets us through this. – Franco Mormando

In the year 2020, humanity faced great challenges  – from the COVID-19 pandemic to worldwide protests against racialized violence, environmental vulnerabilities, and growing disparities between the wealthy and the poor. 2020 upended ‘business as usual’ and prompted important considerations and questions – about the nature and importance of communication, contact, technology, the growing importance of local communities the impact of global actions, the ramifications of institutional narratives, and beyond.

CoFlourish was born from the challenges of 2020. Featuring over 30 artists from Montana and beyond, this exhibition is a wedding of two initiatives: place-based artist-in-residency sessions and an inter-artist collaborative project. The initiatives focused on opportunities for artists to connect, examine, and ultimately create with one another and place during a disorienting time.

This exhibition is sponsored by the Montana Art Gallery Directors Association (MAGDA), a state-wide service organization for non-profit museums & galleries, and supported in part by grants from the Montana Arts Council, a state agency funded by the State of Montana; coal severance taxes paid based upon coal mined in Montana and deposited in Montana’s Cultural and Aesthetic Projects Trust Fund; and the National Endowment for the Arts.