Vision Gallery

Off the Clock: Artwork by City of Chandler Employees
2021-08-21 - 2021-10-02 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
At the City of Chandler, we are fortunate to have myriad multi-talented individuals working all around us. While many of our coworkers’ skills are visible in the office, some talents are not as obvious. Further, a year spent mostly at home has given many employees the opportunity to find new hobbies or rediscover old passions to pass the time. Featuring 25 artists from 11 City departments, Off the Clock celebrates the artistic talents of our fellow City employees!
Exhibiting Artists
Theo Anglin, Jennifer Bailey, Kathryn Beck, Kareena Betancourt, Peter Bugg, Anna Camino, James Carreno, Cynde Cerf, Andrea Cole, Diana Deming, Lessie Dingler, Kim Durning, Caroline Hudson-Naef, Laurel Klimack, Chris Leon, Savana Martinez, Susan May, Rori Minor, John Owens, Yuliana Resendiz, Rick Smith, Nannette Tennant, Sue Van Horne, Michael Winer, Melina Zuniga

Exhibition Photos

Between Two Worlds: Storytelling and Artwork by Shachi Kale
2021-08-20 - 2021-09-25 | Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler, AZ, 85225
In 2000, after living her whole life in the bustling city of Mumbai, India, Shachi Kale relocated to the suburban sprawl of Chandler, Arizona. While the adventure of moving 8,800 miles away was thrilling and exciting, the transition hit her like a tidal wave. To cope with her emotions, Kale began creating intricately detailed drawings and paintings, exploring her own experience through the lens of Western fairytale characters. Throughout her daily life in the early years, Kale experienced Rapunzel’s isolation, Alice’s emotional tumble down the rabbit hole, and Cinderella’s domestic alienation – all of which she put down on paper. Fortunately, as happens in fairytales, Kale found fairy godmothers and godfathers who helped her adapt, assimilate, and overcome the difficulties of making a new home. This fantastical exhibition explores her journey from surviving to thriving in Chandler, Arizona.
Image: Shachi Kale, Suspended Between Two Worlds, Alice Hadn’t Anticipated A Prickly Landing. It Was All Getting Curiouser And Curiouser (Detail)
Exhibition Photos

Art Social: Painting Nature with Courtney Currier
2021-08-05 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Phoenix) | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Grown-ups, it’s time to stretch those creative muscles! You asked and we listened: Art Social is our brand-new quarterly workshop series for adults. Let loose, learn something new, and take home a piece of your own handiwork.
This August, learn a variety of fun watercolor techniques as you paint sights and sounds from nature. Participants will record scientific and artistic observations in an inspiration journal. Scientist and artist Courtney Currier will lead this class for students ages 18+.
This casual 1.5 hour class doesn’t require any prior knowledge or skill, and all materials are included in the $25 class fee. Best of all, you get to create your own unique piece of art! Sign up via the button below.
Register Here

Make it: Clay Cactus
2021-07-17 11:00 - 13:00 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Inspired by our current exhibition, Take a Hike, stop by Vision Gallery on Saturday, July 17 from 11am – 1pm to make a clay cactus! Practice your sculpting techniques to make a variety of succulent shapes. All supplies provided, all ages welcome. We’ll be using air-dry clay, so no need to worry about firing!
While you’re here, enjoy our current exhibition all about the great outdoors! Take a Hike is on display at both Vision Gallery and the Chandler Center for the Arts.
This is a drop-in activity; free RSVPs are appreciated so we can prepare supplies.
RSVP Here

Take a Hike
2021-05-15 - 2021-08-14 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
As the pandemic gripped the nation in 2020, people of all different backgrounds searched for ways to safely venture out of the house and take a break from the pressures of daily life. One activity that allowed people in the Phoenix Valley and beyond to social distance and exercise at the same time was to hit the trails. While more experienced hikers may have sought out new trails or new ways to engage with familiar areas, more novice hikers were also able to safely and respectfully enjoy longer adventures with the help of education materials that were widely shared.
For Take a Hike, the Chandler Galleries invited artists to share their appreciation and experiences of hiking the myriad trails across Arizona and further afield. Vision Gallery hopes this exhibition will foster a love and appreciation for the parks, forests, and waterways that constitute our public lands.
Exhibiting Artists
Laura Ashton, Parker Barfield, Laura Brennan, Holly D. Brewster, Debborah Charboneau, James Cowlin, Paula Driscoll, Ariana Enriquez, Marvella Frey, Marty Gatrost, Carrie Jackson Glenn, Goldwoman, Alicia Green, Caroline Karcher, Cassandra Katsuleas, Stacy Marko, Linda McCurry, Karina McMillan, Meriadoc, Morgan Moore, Parul Naresh, Andrew Lincoln Nelson, Vanessa Ortiz, Cheri Reckers, Rotem Reshef, Pamela Shearer, Leanne Smith, Jen Urso, Diego Vallejos, Hyewon Yoon
Header image by Martin Gatrost
In-Person Reception
Join us for an opening reception on Saturday, May 22 from 4pm to 6pm! Visitors are invited to walk between both exhibition venues to experience the full show. We ask that visitors maintain social distancing policies and wear face coverings while in either gallery.
RSVP HereExhibition Photos

Community Chalk Mural
2021-05-08 14:00 - 16:00 | Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler, AZ, 85225
Stop by the terrace at the Chandler Center for the Arts for some outside, masked up, community chalk coloring! Artist Ariana Enriquez has created a 10’ x 20’ chalk outline on the terrace, and we are looking for Chandlerites of all ages to come and help color in the lines. Stay for 15 minutes or the whole two hours. Bring a friend, bring a mask, we’ll provide the chalk. While you’re in the area, you can also visit Ariana’s mural The Hum of the Desert just around the corner on Commonwealth St east of Arizona Avenue.
RSVP Here

#ChandlerAtPlay DAY
2021-05-01 10:00 - 16:00 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
On Saturday, May 1st, DOUBLE THE FUN with Vision Gallery and Chandler Museum! Visit both spaces to view our play-themed exhibitions and participate in a series of silly activities to earn a goodie bag. Get ready to have some serious fun with PLAY HARD and Once Upon a Playground! Free to participate, all ages welcome, prizes available while supplies last.
Instructions for Play:
1. START at either Vision Gallery or Chandler Museum and pick up a punch card!
2. Follow the steps for different kinds of fun—appropriate for all ages!
3. GO to the next venue and repeat Step 2!
4. Players who have at least 4 activities completed will receive a goodie bag!
RSVP at the link below.
RSVP Here

Image: Ellie Richards, Fly Swat Stickies

CUSD 2021
2021-04-14 - 2021-05-06 | The Gallery at CCA, 250 North Arizona Avenue, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Chandler Unified School District’s most gifted artists put their work on display for the community to experience in this annual showcase. The burgeoning artists from Basha, Hamilton, Perry, Erie, Casteel and Chandler high schools display their talents and viewpoints through paintings, drawings, sculptures, jewelry, and photographs. With over 100 works on display, there is always something for everyone in this exhibition.
Virtual Visit

Vision Gallery Recess
2021-04-09 16:00 - 19:00 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Stop by Vision Gallery on Friday, April 9 between 4 and 7pm for live jazz and outdoor fun! We are excited to be a venue for the Chandler Jazz Festival along with Crust, Dr. A.J. Chandler Park West, Saba’s Western Wear, Sibley’s West.
You’ll be able to see our new playful exhibition, PLAY HARD, and then have some fun of your own with outdoor games in the City Hall courtyard like cornhole, inflatable bowling, Connect Four, and more.
Plus, the Chandler Public Library will be set up with books about games for adults, library card registration, and 3-D printed puzzles to take home.
This event is free to attend, no RSVP necessary. We ask that our guests wear face coverings and maintain social distancing protocols.
Chandler Jazz Festival

PLAY Hard
2021-04-03 - 2021-05-08 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
As an adult, how often do we actually think of playing? What does it mean to play? Who has the ability to do so? For this exhibition, Melissa Sclafani and Ellie Richards examine the idea of play, but through very different lenses. Sclafani’s political sculptures use the aesthetics of the playground to examine systemic racial and economic inequalities in communal outdoor areas, while Richards’ readymades and assemblages seek to address the distinct psychological shifts between objects and behaviors associated with childhood memory, labor, and learning. This lighthearted exhibition with serious themes will inspire you to reconsider an element of our lives that we take for granted.
Activity Guide
Bring this exhibition home with our PLAY HARD Activity Guide! These are available for free either online (download below) or in the gallery. This booklet for kids and adults is filled with wacky prompts to get you thinking about the themes of this show while having a blast.
For best printing results, open with Adobe Acrobat and print as a booklet.
Download Activity GuideVirtual Visit

Mural Mile Tour - March
2021-03-10 12:00 - 13:00 | Downtown Chandler Library, 22 S Delaware St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Take a break from your computer screen and enjoy the cooler temps with a lunch break field trip to Downtown Chandler! Join us for a walk with staff from Chandler’s Visual Arts Team while they share the stories behind our vibrant mural scene.
Participants will receive a commemorative set of buttons featuring artwork from a few stops along the way.
Registration required. Limit 15. Please register via the Chandler Public Library here.
Meet up at the Downtown Chandler Library in front of the flag poles on the west side of the building. Masks and social distancing required. Comfortable shoes and sun protection recommended.

Approaching the Natural: Artwork by Mary Meyer and Aimee Ollinger
2021-03-06 - 2021-04-10 | The Gallery at CCA, 250 North Arizona Avenue, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Image: Aimee Ollinger (left), Mary Meyer (right)
For millennia, humans have tried to replicate nature through scientific and artistic means. However, the fallible nature of human hands never allows us to fully capture the intrinsic beauty of nature. Artworks by Mary Meyer and Aimee Ollinger continually approach the natural, with their splendor lying in the artists’ reinterpretation of the organic forms. Meyer’s reliefs and wall sculptures attempt to understand the symmetry in nature and how the forms relate to and are similar to the human body. Ollinger’s embroidery and mixed media work seeks to understand the macroscopic and microscopic by controlling the entropic nature of various organic forms. By placing these artists beside one another, Approaching the Natural quietly expresses the diverse beauty that lies in nature from the hard curved edges in Meyer’s sculptures to the free flowing lines in Ollinger’s work.
Metro Phoenix EcoFlora
This exhibition is produced in collaboration with Metro Phoenix EcoFlora, a program of the Desert Botanical Garden that invites neighborhood naturalists to participate in studying urban biodiversity. Read on to learn more about how you can get involved with this fun project!
Reception – Now In Person
Join us for an in-person reception with the artists on Saturday, April 10 from 2 – 4pm! Both artists will be in attendance. This will not be a timed entry event, but please RSVP if you plan to attend.
If you are unable to attend the reception, Aimee and Mary participated in a monthly presentation called EcoQuestions hosted by EcoFlora, and shared some wonderful insights about their artwork and process. This presentation is available for you to watch online any time.
RSVP for ReceptionWatch EcoQuestionsExhibition Photos
Get Involved with EcoFlora
Inspired by this exhibit? Become a neighborhood naturalist! Phoenix Metro EcoFlora needs your help recording urban biodiversity. It’s easy to make scientific observations of the plants and animals in your area! Click the button below to learn more.
EcoFlora Instructions

Sediments: Layers of the Phoenix Valley
2021-02-27 - 2021-03-27 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Image: Ashley Czajkowski, Memorandum (Goldfinch III), Lumen print created with found bird, hand-coated photo emulsion on fabric and embroidery, 2016
Before the Valley of the Sun became a thriving, sprawling urban community, the land was home to animals and indigenous peoples. As time passed, people of all backgrounds began migrating to the area in search of new opportunities and resources. With each addition to the land, the cultural and physical landscape began to change, having an immense impact on the land and preexisting cultures. For this exhibition, Vision Gallery will be peeling back the various layers of the Phoenix valley’s history to examine topics relating to preservation, land ownership, and coexistence.
Sediments: Layers of the Phoenix Valley features the work of Ashley Czajkowski, Matthew Garcia, Ann Morton, and Steven Yazzie.
IG Takeovers
Tune in to our Instagram (@visiongalleryaz) every Saturday during this show for a takeover from each artist and our curator, Jillian Nakornthap!
Virtual Visit
Matt Garcia, Homecoming, Digital video/Social sculpture, 2012
Steven Yazzie, Mountain Song, Digital video, 2016
Activity Book
To further explore this exhibition, check out the accompanying activity book! These are available for free either online (download below) or in the gallery. This family-friendly guide is filled with fun prompts to get you thinking about the themes of this show.
For best printing results, open with Adobe Acrobat and print as a booklet.
Download Activity BookGet Involved with EcoFlora
Inspired by this exhibit? Become a neighborhood naturalist! Phoenix Metro EcoFlora needs your help recording urban biodiversity. It’s easy to make scientific observations of the plants and animals in your area! Click the button below to learn more.
EcoFlora Instructions

Community Chalk Mural
2021-02-20 10:00 - 12:00 | Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler, AZ, 85225
Stop by the terrace at the Chandler Center for the Arts for some outside, masked up, community chalk coloring! Vision Gallery artist Jerome Fleming has created a 10’ x 20’ chalk outline in his geometric style on the terrace, and we are looking for Chandlerites of all ages to come and help color in the lines. Stay for 15 minutes or the whole two hours. Bring a friend, bring a mask, we’ll provide the chalk. While you’re in the area, you can also visit Fleming’s work in the Out of Character exhibition at Vision Gallery just down the street.
RSVP Here

Mural Mile Tour - February
2021-02-10 12:00 - 13:00 | Downtown Chandler Library, 22 S Delaware St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Take a break from your computer screen and enjoy the cooler temps with a lunch break field trip to Downtown Chandler! Join us for a walk with staff from Chandler’s Visual Arts Team while they share the stories behind our vibrant mural scene.
Participants will receive a commemorative set of buttons featuring artwork from a few stops along the way.
Registration required. Limit 15. Please register via the Chandler Public Library here.
Meet up at the Downtown Chandler Library in front of the flag poles on the west side of the building. Masks and social distancing required. Comfortable shoes and sun protection recommended.
This tour will also take place on March 10.

Community Chalk Mural
2021-01-23 10:00 - 12:00 | Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler, AZ, 85225
Stop by the terrace at the Chandler Center for the Arts for some outside, masked up, community chalk coloring! Gallery at CCA artist Edith Castro has created a 10’ x 20’ chalk outline in her geometric style on the terrace, and we are looking for Chandlerites of all ages to come and help color in the lines. Stay for 15 minutes or the whole two hours. Bring a friend, bring a mask, we’ll provide the chalk. While you’re here, you can also visit Castro’s exhibition Sin Amor, No Somos Nada in the CCA Gallery.
RSVP Here

Mural Mile Tour - January
2021-01-13 12:00 - 13:00 | Downtown Chandler Library, 22 S Delaware St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Take a break from your computer screen and enjoy the cooler temps with a lunch break field trip to Downtown Chandler! Join us for a walk with staff from Chandler’s Visual Arts Team while they share the stories behind our vibrant mural scene.
Participants will receive a commemorative set of buttons featuring artwork from a few stops along the way.
Registration required. Limit 15. Please register via the Chandler Public Library here.
Meet up at the Downtown Chandler Library in front of the flag poles on the west side of the building. Masks and social distancing required. Comfortable shoes and sun protection recommended.
This tour will also take place on February 10 and March 10.

Out of Character: Artwork by Jerome Fleming and Andre McCline
2021-01-09 - 2021-02-20 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
When faced with a moral dilemma, do people act out of their core values or do they act uncharacteristically? If somebody commits a sin, is it entirely out of character for them, or is it a reflection of who they are at their core? In Out of Character, Jerome Fleming and Andre McCline’s paintings pose these questions to the viewer. Fleming’s angular paintings draw inspiration from the Russian Constructivist movement while re-contextualizing and re-examining the seven deadly sins in the modern era. McCline takes a more direct approach to his subject matter, using pop culture references and a street art style to depict dualistic relationships that implore the viewer to decide which path to take. Both artists question the moral character of the human race and how we respond to everyday situations.
Click below to watch the recorded virtual reception with Fleming and McCline.
Virtual Reception

Image: (left) Jerome Fleming, Gula : gluttony, Acrylic on canvas, 2020; (right) Andre McCline, Battleground, Acrylic paint, oil marker and 3D fabric paint, 2017

Sin Amor, no Somos Nada: Without Love, We Are Nothing
2021-01-08 - 2021-02-26 | The Gallery at CCA, 250 North Arizona Avenue, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Sin Amor, No Somos Nada features new and recent paintings by Costa Rican native Edith Castro. Using her geometric, faceted style and a bright color palette, Castro depicts relatable, recognizable narratives featuring diverse characters. Whether depicting love for a romantic partner, a child, a vocation, or nature’s beauty, the bold works in this show will be sure to grab your attention and remind you of the power of love.
Sin Amor, No Somos Nada se presentan pinturas nuevas y recientes de la artista costarricense Edith Castro. Usando su estilo geométrico, abstracto realista, en facetas y una paleta de colores brillantes, De Castro representa narrativas identificables y reconocibles con personajes diversos. Ya sea que represente el Amor por una pareja romántica, un niño, una vocación o la belleza de la naturaleza, las obras audaces de esta artista, seguramente llamarán su atención y le recordarán el poder del Amor.

Image: Edith Castro, El Abrazo, oil on canvas, 2019

Mural Mile Tour - Date 3
2020-12-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States

Art Quilts XXV: Fleeting Moments
2020-11-21 - 2020-12-31 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Within the swirl and frenzy of life, there are ephemeral moments that remind us of our inner beauty, our strength, our fragility, earth’s wonder, and the cycle of life and decay. Remnants of debris on a pathway, a faded color on a crumbling wall, a glimpse of light and shape in a darkened space, an unexpected texture, a footprint in sand. Being mindful of these moments and capturing them reminds us of the connections that live eternally beyond us.
Now in its 25th year, this annual exhibition has grown from a local and regional quilt show to a respected vehicle for contemporary works. The yearly exhibition draws national and international entries and allows hundreds of visitors each year to experience quilting as an art form.
Participating Artists
Kim R. L. Baird, Nancy Bardach, Claudia Barner, Sandra Branjord, Betty Busby, David Charity, Patricia Charity, Catherine Clark, Shannon Conley, Vicki Conley, Marian Crane, Linda Engstrom, Laurie Fagen, Debra Goley, Nancy Green, Betty Hahn, Marla Hattabaugh, Georgia Heller, Margit Kagerer, Kathleen Kastles, Debra Kay, Aryana B. Londir, Anne Moats, Frances Oldham Murphy, Frauke Palmer, Margaret A. Phillips, Wen Redmond, Lynn Rogers, Shelley Rothgeb, Brenda H. Smith, Shelly White
About the Juror
Linda Anderson (www.laartquilts.com) tells compelling stories of peoples in many cultures around the world, many images gathered from her travels. Her realistic depictions celebrate the ordinary moments in daily life that often go unnoticed, capturing the essence of the humanity we all share. Facilitating that connection visually is her goal. Working in her studio in San Diego, she uses fabric, thread and paint to create fine art quilts full of texture and strong visual impact.
Linda studied at Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles County where she earned a BFA and MFA in Drawing. The artist’s many exhibitions, both nationally and internationally, include selection in the National Quilt Museum 25th Anniversary (2016) 2 year traveling exhibit “Gala of the Unexpected” with Dance Break Oaxaca. A multiple award winner, she has received many 1st place, Best in Show, Outstanding Artistry, Judge’s Choice, Viewer’s Choice awards, and a Top 8 winner at IQA Houston. Linda had a full-page article in the Union-Tribune Arts and Culture section in November 2016, was selected as a ‘Star of San Diego’ in January 2017 San Diego Home and Garden Magazine. She is published in numerous art magazines, books and catalogs. Her work is in private collections.
Image: Linda Engstrom, Red Tide, paper-pieced commercial fabrics and fabric paint, 45.5″ x 30.75″

Virtual Reception
View a recording of our live virtual reception for Art Quilts XXV: Fleeting Moments

Exhibition Images

Linda Anderson: Common Threads
2020-11-20 - 2020-12-31 | The Gallery at CCA, 250 North Arizona Avenue, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Virtual Reception with the Artist: Friday, November 20 at noon via Zoom
Linda Anderson’s quilts tell the compelling narratives of people from many cultures around the world using images gathered from her travels. Her realistic depictions celebrate the ordinary moments of people’s lives that often go unnoticed, capturing the essence of the humanity we all share. Anderson’s quilts encourage us to connect across physical and cultural divides.
Working in her studio in San Diego, she uses fabric, thread and paint to create her impactful fine art quilts. Her contrasting use of vibrant colors in the foreground against the darker background draws the viewer in to appreciate the incredible brush work and delicate stitching that make up the pieces. These artistic details add richness and intricacy to Anderson’s quilts in the same way that the quiet moments depicted add to the fabric of our lives.
Anderson studied at Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles County where she earned a BFA and MFA in Drawing. Her work has been featured in numerous national and international exhibitions; in 2019 she won Best in Show for her piece Velvet Flowers in Art Quilts XXIV at Vision Gallery.
Image: Linda Anderson, Bali Boys, hand painted cottons, raw edge applique, machine stitched and quilted. 59″ x 41″

Mural Mile Tour - Date 2
2020-11-18 12:00 - 13:00 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Take a break from your computer screen and enjoy the cooler temps with a lunch break field trip to Downtown Chandler! Join us for a walk with staff from Chandler’s Visual Arts Team while they share the stories behind our vibrant mural scene.
Participants will receive a commemorative set of buttons featuring artwork from a few stops along the way.
Registration required. Limit 15. Please register via the Chandler Public Library here. Also occurring on December 16.
Meet up at the Downtown Chandler Library in front of the flag poles on the west side of the building. Masks and social distancing required. Comfortable shoes and sun protection recommended.

Mural Mile Tour - Date 1
2020-10-21 00:00 - 13:00 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Take a break from your computer screen and enjoy the cooler temps with a lunch break field trip to
Downtown Chandler! Join us for a walk with staff from Chandler’s Visual Arts Team while they share the stories
behind our vibrant mural scene.
Participants will receive a commemorative set of buttons featuring artwork from a few stops along the way.
Registration required. Limit 15. Please register via the Chandler Public Library here. Also occurring on November 18 and December 16.
Meet up at the Downtown Chandler Library in front of the flag poles on the west side of the building.
Masks and social distancing required. Comfortable shoes and sun protection recommended.

Al Son Que Me Toquen: Recent Work by Emily Costello and Frank Ybarra
2020-10-12 - 2020-11-13 | The Gallery at CCA, 250 North Arizona Avenue, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Al Son Que Me Toquen: Recent Work by Emily Costello and Frank Ybarra celebrates individuals’ spirit of resilience, which allows them to thrive under any circumstance. During these difficult times, the vibrant paintings of everyday life by these two prolific artists encourage people to push forward. Emily Costello is a self-taught painter, printer and mixed media artist, and her work addresses issues of identity, humor, life, love, death, spirituality, dreams and memories. Frank Ybarra’s colorful neo-cubist paintings draw inspiration from growing up and living in the Phoenix Valley. Although their work might differ aesthetically, their shared Mexican-American pride can be seen in the imagery they create. The lively color palettes and joyful scenes in Al Son Que Me Toquen provide hope to the viewer and remind us all that there are better days ahead.
Image: Frank Ybarra, Cosecha de Agave (left), Emily Costello, Ojos Tapatios (right)

Los Americanx
2020-10-10 - 2020-11-14 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Nobody claims me so I claim myself.
– Edgar Cardenas
For most of his life, Edgar Cardenas has lived in the interstitial space between his two personas—Mexican ethnicity and American nationality – oscillating between the pride of his fluid identity and frustration of being ostracized from one or both cultures. In this series, Los Americanx, Cardenas illuminates other disenfranchised individuals who have also grappled with their identity and struggled to be seen. The subjects in the series are from varying backgrounds—hyphenated Americans, immigrants, and refugees — primarily from Mexicantown* in Detroit, Michigan. As Cardenas started to interact with the residents of this vibrant neighborhood and learn about their experiences, he began to realize that they too grapple with understanding their place in the fabric of the United States.
Knowing he wanted to tell their stories, Cardenas picked up his camera and started taking photographs of the residents in Mexicantown. The sitters came from all racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. In each photograph, the sitter appears to fade into the deeply saturated black background; rendering them nearly invisible to the naked eye. To explore the faces of the individuals, Cardenas provides small, narrow focused flashlights throughout the gallery space. With the small flashlights, the viewer must step closer to the images creating an intimacy between the sitter and viewer, if only momentarily. As the flashlight scans the images, it brings to light the beauty of a human face with all of its wrinkles and freckles. Yet as the light hits the image, their identities can no longer be hidden or blend into the backdrop. They are exposed. As a result, the flashlight serves a dual purpose: to celebrate the often overlooked individuals in society and call to question the surveillance and policing of these bodies because of their presumed ethnicity.
With Los Americanx, Cardenas invites viewers to think more deeply about identity and what it truly means to be American.
*Mexicantown is a historically Latino neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan. It grew out of the influx of primarily Mexicans and other Latin Americans who moved to the area in the 1920s in search of work. Today, immigrants and refugees from around the globe now call Mexicantown their home.
Image: Edgar Cardenas, #694, Pigmented inkjet print

Dyads: Altered Bodies, Converging Forms
2020-08-29 - 2020-10-03 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
By directing and guiding a mixture of Sumi ink and water, Sapira Cheuk creates androgynous figures that appear to move weightlessly across a stark white backdrop. As the two liquids converge and repel one another during the painting process, the dyadic relationship between them produces sinuous, angulating patterning throughout boundaries set forth by the artist’s hand. Once the mixture dries, the negative space of the evaporated water appears to bend and curl through the sea of black ink – silently reminding the viewer of the water’s ephemeral existence.
Much like the evaporated water in the paintings, trauma or great change can affect an individual long after it has passed. For this exhibition, Cheuk is exploring how individuals cope mentally and physically with those external forces and what remains after. Through her work, she meditatively attempts to control the uncontrollable. While we may never be able to avoid change or trauma, we can, like the artist’s hand, control how it leaves its mark on the paper of our lives.

We will be hosting a virtual reception for this exhibition on Saturday, September 12 at 4pm on Instagram Live! Sapira Cheuk will be joining us from her home in Las Vegas to give a tour of the show and answer questions.

Image: Sapira Cheuk, Aligned Parallel (detail), Sumi ink on paper, 2020, dimensions variable

Fan Rong: Heavenly Horses
2020-08-28 - 2020-10-02 | The Gallery at CCA, 250 North Arizona Avenue, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
Growing up in An Hui province in China, artist Fan Rong was first exposed to traditional Chinese paintings and folklore at an early age, and his life-long passion for painting, especially horses, has grown out of those formative years. After moving to the United States and eventually settling in Chandler, Fan Rong began blending Western elements into his paintings to create his own unique style, which usually depict historical narratives and folklore on a grand scale. His work is in collections and has received recognition on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. In 2015, the artist won the 4th World Outstanding Chinese Artist Award in Hong Kong. Fan Rong: Heavenly Horses features dynamic work by a local artist with international acclaim.

Image: Fan Rong, The 8 High Spirited Stallions of King Zhou Mu, Chinese Ink on Rice paper, 2019, 91” x 41”

Encore: Recent work by Lisa Zirbel, Ryan Eckert, and Parker Barfield
2020-07-10 - 2020-08-21 | Vision Gallery, 10 E Chicago St, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
In Encore, Vision Gallery will re-exhibit work by three recent MFA recipients. While all three artists finished their Master of Fine Arts degrees at ASU in the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in curtailed thesis shows with fewer visitors. Now, for the first time, Ryan Eckert’s colorful, manic, still-life collages will be juxtaposed against Parker Barfield’s surrealist desert charcoal drawings and Lisa Zirbel’s photographs and installations that use natural elements to convey the weight of memory. Please enjoy Encore, and celebrate these newly anointed Masters of Fine Arts.

Image courtesy of Lisa Zirbel

softly.
2020-06-30 - 2020-08-21 | The Gallery at CCA, 250 North Arizona Avenue, Chandler, AZ, 85225, United States
“In the old days…whoever spoke the quietest would win the argument.”
– Barbara Kingsolver, Homeland
Shaunté Glover has a strong rapport with her subjects. Whether her sitters are looking into the camera, into their cups of coffee, into or out of windows, or off into the distance, you can feel her deep affection for the people she chooses to photograph. The photographs feel comfortable and casual, but not careless – her subjects trust her, because she cares deeply for the people and places depicted here. She sees them – drinking, thinking, looking out, looking in, looking back – and is asking you to see them, too. Shaunté Glover’s photographs aren’t arguing with you, but they are speaking softly, and they are winning.
Shaunté Glover has a BFA in photography from ASU, and is a commercial and fine art photographer based in Phoenix, Arizona. For more examples of her work, visit shaunteglover.com or follow her on Instagram at @shaunte.

Image: Shaunté Glover, Home II (detail), Inkjet Print, 2020, dimensions variable
