Juror’s Statement

Juror's Statement:

"As an exhibition developer at a natural history museum and a frequent art museum goer, I am an enthusiastic advocate for the power of creativity and all forms of creative expression. Art feeds my personal and professional hunger to discover new ways of being human on a changing planet. Art helps us appreciate diverse, new perspectives and with new eyes come new ways of seeing and being the world. I accepted the invitation to jury Metamorphosis: Recycled, Repurposed, Reimagined because art museums including the Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Art Center have been inspiring trailblazers in engaging diverse audiences to critically reflect, discuss, and respond to challenging contemporary issues including climate change and our relationship with the environment.

The depth of impressive submissions made selecting the artworks for Metamorphosis both a difficult and wonderful opportunity. Pieces reflected the broad, complex emotional landscape evoked when we consider our individual and communal relationships to the material world, the natural world, and the climate crisis. From humor and love to grief and anger, the materiality, execution, and vision of the final selected pieces best exemplified the Metamorphosis call to act – to see this current moment of change as an opportunity and an invitation to live lighter and more sustainably. Like the call and response of birds, the selected pieces powerfully document artists responses to the question – how can we live better in a world overrun with too much stuff? I am grateful for their reminder that nature and art remain a constant source of possibility and hope even in times of profound change."

-Siobhan Starrs
Exhibition Developer and Sustainability Champion
National Museum of Natural History, The Smithsonian Institution