KINGSTON, R.I. — Resilience, the capacity to withstand from any difficulty, is a powerful word that can invoke a multitude of raw emotions. In the current South County Art Association All Media Open Juried III exhibition, patrons are given a special insight into the artists’ emotional thought process on how their personal interpretation of the theme of resilience.

Jen Ferry, South County Art Association (SCAA) executive director, said this exhibition is different than other SCAA exhibitions because each piece of art has a corresponding short narrative written by the artist telling the story behind their artwork.

“Usually, the main purpose of an artwork is for the viewer to think about their own emotional connection of what the artwork means to them,” Ferry said. “It lets them create their own narrative. That is what is so incredibly powerful about art, its ability to evoke emotions. With this exhibit, we get a glimpse of why the artist created that particular artwork. Reading the narratives creates empathy and a connection to the artwork and the artist who created it.”

The exhibition opened last week and will run until November 11. Out of the 185 submissions that were entered, 95 pieces were accepted, Jason Fong, SCAA exhibitions director, said. SCAA received submissions from all over Rhode Island, as well as Connecticut and Massachusetts.

When submitting work, Fong said artists were encouraged to interpret the theme in any way they deemed best.

This exhibition is the third all media show of this exhibition year at SCAA. Fong said “all media” means works created using any type of media the artist chooses, such as oil (painting), acrylic (painting), photography, ceramic, wood, charcoal and pastel. The show was open to all artists, both SCAA members and non-members.

“There are many interpretations, some are very personal, some deal with politics and social issues,” Fong said. “Some used definitions of resilience as it might be used in physics or science. The variety of interpretations is what makes the show interesting and diverse.”

The exhibition is also going to become a part of SCAA’s “Giving Art a Voice” series of online exhibits. Ferry said the online exhibits started during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Ferry said the organization asked members and the greater SCAA community to send in photos and narratives that “communicate, inspire and sooth” to help offset the turmoil of the pandemic.  It would eventually become an exhibition entitled “Art in Isolation” and birthing the start of this online exhibition series. Both “Art in Isolation” and another exhibition “Diaspora” can be currently found on the SCAA website (https://www.southcountyart.org/online-exhibits.html.)

University of Rhode Island’s department of art and art history chair and associate professor of three-dimensional art and sculpture Ben Anderson served as this exhibition’s juror. Anderson has a Master of Fine Art in visual arts from the University of California at San Diego and a Bachelor of Fine Art from Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. He is also the recipient of the 2005 Directors Choice Award from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the 2002 Rhode Island State Council for the Arts Individual Artist Grant.

In his juror’s statement, Anderson said it was a pleasure to view all the submitted artwork and it was a difficult challenge to narrow down the selection for this show.

“In essence, the role of a juror extends beyond mere selection; it is an exploration of the interplay between artistic intention and viewer perception,” Anderson said in his juror’s statement. “It is a celebration of the myriad ways in which artists invite us to engage with their creations, inviting us to embrace the beauty of ambiguity and the transformative power of letting go.”

SCAA gallery hours are ​Wednesdays through Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more on the current exhibit and additional information, visit http://southcountyart.org.