I am reluctant to share the origins of this exhibition, however, after so many of our contributors offered deeply personal, sometimes heart-rending stories of their relationship to our theme, I could only try to do likewise. I have stated before that "Useless, useless," the last words of Abraham Lincoln's assassin, came starkly to mind at a friend's memorial service last year. I saw how profoundly her one life had affected so many, and it staggered me to consider Booth's inability to recognize how a single hateful act had galvanized so many conflicts. I realized that "the better angels of our nature" have a comparable capacity to accomplish the opposite- resolution, even harmony. This much you know. What I have not shared so far are the griefs and joys that preceded me to this place.. full text here:
