“Where you are determines your opportunities.”
Everyone has their own way of enjoying art: attending a show, reading a classic, exploring the deeper meaning of a poem. Whatever you prefer, the Mansfield Art Center’s current exhibition, Proximity of Fate, is sure to amaze all who visit.
The exhibition challenges visitors to engage deeply with contemporary art that speaks directly to our present. The collection is a dynamic fusion of local, national and international artists, each contributing to a larger narrative about identity, opportunity and the human experience.
“We wanted to make sure we were capturing what was happening in the world now, not just looking back,” said marketing and development director Jennifer Beavis. “Each piece was specifically chosen to tell a story, and they’re all confrontational in different ways.”
Photo credit: Brittoney Roane
Interweaving stories and art: The exhibition as a whole
Proximity of Fate features 21 artists and 33 artworks on themes such as motherhood, teenage struggles, death of a loved one, and more. The exhibition is curated by Openbox founder and director Marquise Stillwell, with support from curatorial advisors Alice Gray Stites (Chief Curator, 21C Museum Hotels) and Justine Ludwig (Managing Director, Creative Time), and project manager Karina Salamanca.
The title expresses the idea that the place you are in can have a profound impact on your opportunities. This theme runs throughout the exhibition, with works that explore how fate, chance and circumstance influence our life’s trajectory.
“Art is a struggle. Creating meaningful work, surviving as an artist, reaching an audience; it all depends on what opportunities are available,” Beavis said.
One of the exhibition’s strengths is its ability to blur the lines between local and global art. Regional artists are exhibited alongside established names from New York, Barcelona and beyond. The curators have deliberately mixed these works to ensure that visitors cannot easily distinguish between the local and the international works, thus challenging preconceived notions about where great art comes from.
Photo credit: Brittoney Roane
A space for reflection and connection
As you walk through the exhibition, you can’t help but feel the weight of the stories being told. Whether it’s the raw emotion in Jesse Ly’s work, the complex layers of Talle Bamazi’s work, or the overarching theme of fate, each work invites you to pause, reflect, and make a connection. Proximity of Fate isn’t just an exhibition to look at – it’s one to be experienced.
The Mansfield Art Center provides a space where art can foster understanding, spark conversation, and perhaps even inspire change. Proximity of Fate is a reminder that art has the power to bring people together and make us see the world—and each other—with new eyes.
Proximity of Fate is sponsored by the Lehman Foundation, Alumni Roofing, and the Ohio Arts Council. The exhibit is currently open to the public and will remain so through October 20. Admission to the exhibit is a suggested donation of $5-$10 to support the Mansfield Art Center’s mission to bring more exhibitions like Proximity of Fate to Mansfield. To learn more about Proximity of Fate and the featured artists, visit the Mansfield Art Center website. To learn more about the Mansfield Art Center, click here or call 419-756-1700.
