Heather presented her Plutocracy installation at Valise gallery in November 2012, sharing the gallery with another installation by her artist husband Matthew. They invited the community to join them for the opening reception on Friday, November 2, 6:00 - 9:00 pm. And the press release for the opening is as follows:

Vashon Artists, Originally from Wisconsin, Invite You for a Cup of Booya and So Much More!

This Friday night, VALISE gallery will be a warm respite from the chilly, damp and unknown November election air. Artists Heather Joy and Matthew Olds will be serving homemade Booya, a traditional upper Midwest soup, along with fresh cheese curds from Wisconsin. The artists invite the community to join them for a night of art, conversation and comradery while we all await next week’s election results.

The art you will find in the gallery stems from the artist’s individual and shared experiences and influences of growing up in Wisconsin. Both artists were raised in Wisconsin, Matthew in Middleton and Heather in Waupaca, towns just two hours apart. And come to find out, while growing up they spent family gatherings and holidays only a few miles apart in the north woods of Wisconsin. But they were destined to meet in Colorado as young adults in 1996, then moving to Seattle in 1999 and landing on Vashon in 2007.

VALISE member Heather Joy draws upon her family’s political history as a call to action thanks in part to her uncle who was a Wisconsin State Assemblyman and then Senator from 1979-1995. “Politics are in my blood…I find it hard to be quiet during this important moment in our history,” says the artist. Heather’s new work, entitled Plutocracy, focuses on the huge divide between the super wealthy and the rest of the country. Heather has painstakingly installed 10,000 sewing pins into the gallery walls to illustrate the economic inequality in the United States. One lone pin representing the top 0.01% of the wealthiest people in the US, positioned next to a second cluster of 100 pins representing the top 1% of Americans, next to a huge murmuration of pins representing the rest of Americans, who on average make $26,487/year (2010). During the week prior to the show opening, Heather has been in the gallery every day installing the pins, and says “I’ll never forget this time spent pushing each pin into the wall, listening to the run up to the election on NPR. It is jaw dropping to hear how much money is being spent on political campaigns, $6 billion is projected to be spent by November 6th! The Citizens United case has changed everything…I fear that those with lots of money have a loud voice and those without resources are not being heard.”

Matthew’s exhibition, entitled Up North, revisits the northern woods of Wisconsin and the cabin that his Grandfather built. “As a boy who grew up mostly in a relatively urban environment, a trip north was always a great adventure, a learning experience, and a familial touchstone.” Olds presents that experience through new paintings, video, and installation art from not only a present day perspective but also that of a little boy wandering the wilds of the northern woods. “Up North opens a door to a very influential time in my life and serves as an introductory tribute to the vision, passion, and importance that was my grandma and grandpa’s cabin.”

Please join the artists on Friday night at the opening reception from 6:00 - 9:00 pm. The show runs November 2-24, 2012. VALISE gallery hours are Saturdays from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm.

VALISE (Vashon Artists Linked In Social Engagement) artist collective & gallery is located at 17633 Vashon Hwy SW on Vashon Island. VALISE presents a new show each month by collective members and invited guests.