Beauty Is What We’re Fighting For
Dates: May 6-July 21
OPENING RECEPTION: May 6, 5-7 p.m. Juror remarks at 6:00 p.m.
Join us for Cade Art Gallery’s 2025 National Juried Exhibition, “Beauty Is What We’re Fighting For,” juried by Washington, D.C. based curator, Philippa Pham Hughes. Featuring a range of works that engage with beauty not as an escape, but as an act of resistance, renewal, and reimagining, the exhibition speaks to beauty’s transformative power to inspire awe, foster connection, and envision flourishing futures.
Beauty operates on multiple levels: as resistance to dehumanization, as a catalyst for wonder that connects us to something larger than ourselves, and as a foundation for human flourishing alongside community, sustainability, and dignity. Through art that evokes awe – defined by researchers as our response to vastness that transcends ordinary understanding – we can shift from transactional to relational ways of being.
As artist David Wojnarowicz noted during the AIDS crisis, beauty is not a luxury but “what we’re fighting for.” It serves as both compass and destination, reminding us why we persist through struggle. Without maintaining our capacity to recognize and create beauty, we risk losing sight of the world we seek to build.
Artists on view in the exhibition:
Pixie Alexander, Anita Barnes, Carol Barsha, Graig Bracey, Wing Bui, Marina Bykova, Michèle Colburn, Chris Combs, Anna Demovidova, Gayle Friedman, Patricia Goslee, Marcia Haffmans, Kristopher Heng, Deborah Hesse, Tom Hill, Katie Hovencamp, Mariam Julianna, Maria Karametou, Ryan Lewis, George Lorio, Angie Meche Kilcullen, Lynn Nguyen, John Paradiso, Heidi Phelps, Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe, Richard P. Stevens, Clark Stoeckley, Deidre Vertucci, Richard Weiblinger, Sara Wilkerson, and Antoinette Wysocki.
About the Exhibition Juror:
Philippa Pham Hughes is a social sculptor, educator, speaker, and writer. Currently, she is a Social Practice Resident at The Kennedy Center, Visiting Artist For Arts & Civic Engagement at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and a Lecturer at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She is a contributing author in the forthcoming book, “An Empathy-Building Toolkit For Museums.”
She applies relational thinking and an aesthetic of care and delight to her work in democracy building, civic engagement, and repairing the social fabric of our country one creative conversation at a time. Philippa draws from the arts and humanities to design spaces for honest conversations across political, social, and cultural differences. She curates multi-disciplinary art exhibits & experiences that build social capital, social cohesion, and social discourse.
Philippa has spoken widely, including SXSW, Cato Institute, TEDxAmericanUniversity, Davidson College, University of Michigan’s Penny Stamps Speaker Series, Art & Democracy Day at Hopkins Bloomberg Center, Fort Worth Women’s Policy Forum. Her work has been featured by artnet, CNN, PBS Newshour, CityLab, and The Washington Post. Philippa’s mission: to create a society in which all humans flourish.
Join us for an opening reception and juror remarks on Tuesday, May 6, 5 – 7 pm.
Image identifications:
Miriam Julianna, Crane Garland Example, 2025. Folded found paper, string, found objects.
