FLOWERS IN THE SIDEWALK

Part of the FotoFocus 2024 Biennial, Flowers in the Sidewalk investigated different struggles of an individual’s agency with larger systems of society. In line with Fotofocus Biennial’s theme of “Backstories,” each work was selected to represent a different story of perseverance and claiming agency. For instance, one body of work displays the architecture of abandoned work spaces being reclaimed and another finds joy through repetition and institutionalization. The common denominator in the work is struggling for control and the impact of our own agency in the world.

As TuPac famously stated, a rose that grew in the crack of concrete was “Proving nature’s laws wrong.” 

Participating artists: Paul Grilli, Anissa Lewis, Erika NJ Allen, Michael Kearns, Matt Steffen, Nick Swartsell, Robert “Bob” Hanneman, Brian Dooley, Megan Besl, J.R. Bradshaw, Jon Klosterman, Lorna Smith, Amy Hayden, and Mike Ginn.