What a busy, fulfilling week at the Lyndon House Arts Center! This place is a true gift. Hearing this year’s Juried Show artists share what it means to them reminds me to pause, reflect, and appreciate the deep impact an art center has on a person’s life.

A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It is a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity.
-Jimmy Carter

Arrived in Iowa yesterday to a beautiful, snow-covered welcome. It’s been years since I’ve felt uneasy flying, but with recent crashes and FAA shake-ups, I had a moment of worry. Grateful to be safely on the ground and, more importantly, spending time with my parents. Looking forward to this visit!

Spent the day at The Carter Center, where my book group saw John Cleveland’s stunning work inspired by An Hour Before Daylight. We came for the art but left reflecting on Jimmy Carter’s legacy and his call to renew our belief in a strong, peaceful, and generous nation. Plenty to ponder.

Wrapped up my first day at the Georgia Association of Museums at Rose Hill—a stunning historic building. Grateful for the chance to connect worh new people, exchange ideas, and build relationships in such a hauntingly beautiful setting.

Woke up to a gorgeous, temperate day. Quiet, peaceful—for now. I wonder what chaos awaits as I open my phone. Headlines, outrage, noise. This is my new America: beauty outside, turbulence inside, a constant tension between the world I see and the one I scroll through.

Alice Woodruff’s Warrior Women is a visceral response to the courage of women speaking out against abuse. Her powerful sculptures transform pain into resilience, reflecting the anger, empathy, and strength so many feel but struggle to express. Alice herself is a true warrior.