INTERVIEW: Connection in Context Design Show Closes This Weekend
Through 5/24 @ Context Collective Art Gallery, Troy
**This interview originally appeared in our April 2025 issue**
Photos by Debi Gustafson
“it's a very scary time right now, and the rebellious act would be to connect more and to be with each other and resist by having this joy; the art is resistance.”
If you’ve ever found yourself lurking the comments of an online debate thread, you’ve likely come across this sick burn: “Go touch grass.” Meant as a dismissal towards another person’s argument, it’s essentially saying: get off the internet and go experience the real world. It’s a fair point, but is there a way to reframe that sentiment into something a bit more progressive?
Mariah Kitner and Graciela Monroy, co-curators of the upcoming May design show Connection in Context, are providing the perfect opportunity to get out and experience art that is tangible, special, and rooted in something deeply human.
24 local artists and craftspeople are working in collaboration with one another as part of the springtime show. While it may not be grass they’re touching, the participants will have their hands in everything from clay, paint, wet felt… whatever their chosen medium. The main purpose of the show is to foster connection between the pieces themselves and the artists that create them.
Set to take place within Context Collective Art Gallery’s main showroom in Troy, Kitner describes the cozy scene: “Twelve of the artists are making stools and twelve of them are making bowls and we're pairing them together so that it's a conversation between the stoolmaker and the bowlmaker. We paired them based on their portfolios and how we thought they would harmonize with each other.”
She goes on to describe a long wooden table, which will serve as the central place setting for the bowls and stools. The table itself will be provided by Danny Killion, owner of local reclaimed woodworking business Weathered Wood in Troy.
“It'll be like you're invited to a really lush dinner party where everyone brought the most random bowls and stools that aren't necessarily functional. We invited artists to just kind of make it to make it,” Kitner says. This table setting will be displayed opening weekend only. Afterwards, the bowls will be moved to shelves along the perimeter wall of the gallery where their stool counterparts will sit just below them.
A plant swap will also be part of the event, adding a natural and transitory element to the still life quality of the installation. Combining this with the artists’ creations will offer a “reminder of nature’s role in our homes and our lives”. A final layer to the show’s central theme of connection is reflection. Mirrors will adorn the walls of the gallery and invoke a recognition of self within community and nature.
“Through materiality, collaboration and shared ritual, this exhibition is a meditation on how we gather, how we nurture, and how we see ourselves within the fabric of our community,” the co-creators note ahead of the show.
It’s an important message in what continues to feel like a time of growing isolation and loneliness. What Kitner hopes the community will take away from the show and the gallery itself is a third space feeling. A “third space” is any location where people can gather together informally that isn’t their home or work, and provides a feeling of welcomeness and familiarity with those around you.
“A lot of the foundation of why I created the gallery was to foster the arts, to create opportunities for artists, and to connect over art,” Kitner says. “Even just with our open clay play days, we invite the whole community to come in and just touch clay, and if they wanna keep [what they make] great, and if they don't, that's fine, too. [The public] had this opportunity to interact with the arts and engage in the community outside of, you know, a bar or a restaurant.”
In writing this piece, I did a quick mental inventory of all the ways the people around me seek to spend intentional time with one another. In an era where our attention is seen as a powerful form of currency, there’s an undeniable struggle to find the right place and time to connect with others that doesn’t involve spending money or giving into distraction. Crafting and making art is, at least anecdotally, one avenue people routinely feel good immersing themselves in, even though it often demands our full attention to get the most out of it.
“You know, it's a very scary time right now,” Kitner reflects, “and the rebellious act would be to connect more and to be with each other and resist by having this joy; the art is resistance.”
Kitner runs the gallery with co-founder and artist-in-residence, Ash King, and Monroy is an architect and interior designer. Kitner and King have been consistently busy since Context Collective first opened its doors. In addition to shows, King teaches in-person workshops at the gallery. Context Collective continues to draw curious art lovers of all ages with a variety of shows and workshops that the pair works tirelessly to put together. Kitner and King plan to do monthly turnovers of shows for the first year of operation to create an opportunity for people to come back every Troy Night Out for a new opening.
“We had an opening here [called] Cups in Context, which was a national juried ceramic cup show. We had at least 100 people come through and sold a third of the show opening night.”
Aside from being an artist herself, Kitner has worked professionally within the arts for a number of years. Prior to opening the gallery in Troy, she worked as an art consultant for several years, connecting with other artists and curating shows in New York City.
“I really loved not only being an artist, but creating opportunities for other artists.”
When asked what she is most excited about regarding the Connection in Context show, she remarked, “Seeing how each artist actually did collaborate with each other. I think there's not so much opportunity for artists to collaborate these days without really going out of their way or working with a friend or someone they already know… I love fostering those connections and being a physical space for that to happen.”
In an isolating world where artists may stay holed-up alone in their studios or toil over tablets and sketchbooks, it’s important for us to remember that there’s room for everyone at the table.
Participating artists: James Barker, Alta Buden, Ethan Carmody, Kyle Engstrom, Kayden Fitzgerald, Suzy Gerbe, Ron Greico, Julian Goldman, Amanda Michael Harris, Azure Kauikeolani Iversen-Keahi, Danny Killion, Ash King, Mariah Kitner, Grace Knight, Gracelee Lawrence, Jim Lewis, Kim Markel, Eric Meeker, Yiyi Mendoza, Graciela Monroy, Alice O’Neill, Chris Parkinson, Kat Reeder, Tori Rodriguez, Deirdre Shea, Gwen Walsh
For more information on Context Collective and their events visit www.contextclay.com and follow @context.collective.troy on Instagram.
