Inspired by the myriad ways the universe communicates with each of us, Cosmic Things investigates signs, symbols, objects, and patterns through which we receive and interpret meaning. Forty-seven artists share personal mythologies, iconographies, and systems of belief through works that respond to recurring dreams, animal messengers, coincidences and synchronicities, natural phenomena, totems, touchstones, and more. Together they consider a common experience of individual cosmic correspondence.

Dr. Aaron Rosen, founding director of the not-for-profit Parsonage Gallery served as juror for this open call.

Juror’s Statement - The sheer variety of submissions reflects the multitudinous ways in which one might identify, conjure, and respond to "cosmic things."  Some artists, moved like Blake "to see a world in a grain of sand," drew inspiration from everyday objects, especially in nature.  Others looked directly to the firmament, depicting various celestial bodies.  Still others worked in abstract forms, whether with a sort of mystic, pulsing energy or a restrained spiritual balance.  Viewers will find individual pieces that speak to them of cosmic matters, but perhaps most interesting is how these works speak to one another, humming silently like the music of the spheres.

R. Scott Baltz

Louise Bourne

Patricia Brace

Peter Clive

Carrie Crane

Mary Curran

Cathleen Daley

Galen Davis

Lisa Dombek

Alicia Ethridge

Justin Fell

Marjorie Forte

Gay Freeborn

Leslie Fry

John Gardiner

Jessica Gasc

Artwork images will be added shortly. Check back soon!