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Here at Create! Magazine, you can explore the virtual exhibition on a computer or download the Exhibit App for mobile viewing.
This summer did not go according to plan. What once brought crowded beaches, lively art fairs and festivals, and time spent with loved-ones around a fire, is now a time of cancellation, safety measures, and grief. Nights aimlessly wondering around with friends through the heavy summer air and days filled with eagerly attending art openings, have turned into Zoom calls and checking in on each other’s health and emotional status. It may seem to some like the magic of summer never came. Although, the thing about magic is, it never comes the way you expect.
Look around and you will see this summer has been full of resilience. Crowds flocked to protests against police brutality and systemic racism. Communities rallied together to support those who are going without due to income loss. Artists and art workers gathered together to create opportunities, offer support, and come up with new ways of sharing work from a safe distance. All of this in the face of a pandemic, which is nothing short of a miracle—or magic.
Looking back on this summer, we encourage you to search for these moments of resilience and courage. These magical moments where we chose to move forward. As artists, making art during times of struggle is nothing new, but challenging nonetheless. All of us here at Create! Magazine proudly present to you our inaugural virtual exhibition Unleashing Magic, curated by our incredible team. The artworks we’ve chosen are filled with moments of joy through the use of color, shape and subject, embodying the magic it takes to hold onto that joy and cobble together the time, materials, and energy it takes to keep on creating, to continuously and repeatedly work on your craft. Each piece of art is a piece of us, a piece of magic we offer each other. We may be exhausted and unsure about what the future looks like, but we know that, thanks to all of us, it will not be without magic.
Ekaterina Popova: Artist, Curator, Mentor, Editor and Founder of Create! Magazine, host of Art & Cocktails Podcast
Alicia Puig: CEO of PxP Contemporary, Curator, Writer, Art Historian, and Director of Business Operations at Create! Magazine
Shelby McFadden: Artist, Designer, and Editor of Pikchur Magazine
Christina Nafziger: Arts Writer, Journalist, and Gallery Assistant
Zoë Goetzmann: Arts Writer
