I found myself laughing out loud all this week when I recalled how Charlotte, our seven month old granddaughter, would squeal as loudly as she could, until she turned red in the face, to see how excited we would be by her antics.

Blowing on dandelions with Charlotte at Squaw Creek Park

Other than play with Charlotte, I think that one of the most enjoyable things that I have done of late has been to host the artists’ talks here at the gallery. Last Thursday night, Carlos Ferguson showed us how he made boxes with “little worlds” inside them. The worlds can be viewed through lenses placed on either side of the box, after pulling each box to eye level from a counter-weight system suspended from the ceiling. The boxes are magical. Seldom have I seen people look at art with such a sense of delight.

Carlos Ferguson speaking about his little worlds at Campbell Steele

And Peter Feldstein talked about shooting at least two photographs each of all the residents of Oxford, Iowa- twenty years apart. The Oxford Project, the book that he produced with Stephen Bloom, marries photographs with text that absolutely and unsentimentally portrays the humanity of each individual, and penetrates to the core of life’s experience- anywhere.

Carlos’ and Peter’s works remain at the gallery, and I hope that you’ll stop to see them. Our next artists’ talk is June 10 and features Marcia Wegman and Gordon Kellenberger.