20!

20! Exhibition Announcement | Credit: BoxHeart Gallery

20! That is the number of years Pittsburgh gallery, BoxHeart, has been in the business of presenting, developing and celebrating the arts and artists. It is also the name of the gallery’s first exhibit of 2021 marking its anniversary. As a BoxHeart artist, I couldn’t be more proud and grateful to be part of the gallery’s history, and now, exhibition. To have a turn at raising my glass for all the times they clinked before toasting each other’s company. Today however it’s all you!

Gallery Founders, Nicole Capozzi and Joshua Hogan

And who is “you”? “You” are gallery founders and couple Nicole Capozzi and Joshua Hogan, who together, have persevered through the usual, and unusual, rigors of entrepreneurship and life in the art world with an aplomb and energy, unparalleled. You are constantly researching, innovating, investing and advancing your program and goals in a way that is so inspiring, it compels us artists to believe, muster and realize that same potential–in the least, to meet your efforts. By opening your gallery doors to us, you open many more, including to the public, who along with the press, are the opportunities artists learn about how their work exists outside of the studio.

Pandemic or not, Open for Business

Although those doors have physically closed since the pandemic, the engagement with people, ideas, and industry have not stopped. Rather, those pursuits have taken on greater importance as the arts and artists, globally, confront an uncertainty of a new magnitude. Risks and chances, that as anyone in the profession knows, are endemic to being the “nature of the biz.” Your years of building immunity and community are why artists and people everywhere are feeling hopeful for the future.

Still Here

The last time this hope was on similar display was in 2018, for the gallery’s then anniversary group exhibit, Almost 17 and #werestillhere. Though the styles and artworks are different in this year’s exhibition, the spirit, celebration, gratitude and hashtags are nonetheless ever-present and relevant. #Youarestillhere and we–artists, Pittsburghers and everybody, across and abroad–are here for it. We are better for it and so is arts and culture too. Congratulations BoxHeart! Congratulations Nicole Capozzi and Joshua Hogan. To history still-in-the-making and wonderful you!

20! The Exhibit

20! is on from January 20 – February 19, 2021, at BoxHeart Gallery, Pittsburgh PA. The exhibition features works from artists Karen Antonelli, Mary Becker, Tony Cavalline, Seth Clark, Joshua Hogan, Irina Koukhanova, Brianna Martray, Deirdre Murphy, Daria Sandburg, Tiffany Simmons, Renee Tay, myself–Andrew Ooi–and more. To view the exhibit virtually, schedule an appointment, or for gallery hours and address, please visit www.boxheartgallery.com. Celebrate supporters of the arts and artists!