Chesterton, Indiana — Gallery 1882 is pleased to announce because . . . FLOWERS, a celebratory group exhibition running May 23 - July 19, 2026. A reception will take place on Saturday, May 23, 2026, from 5:00-8:00pm and is open to the public. 

because . . . FLOWERS features more than 70 works from the following artists from across North America: Renee Adams, Reed Anderson, Juventino Aranda, John E. Bannon, Amy Bay, Sarah Bedford, Alina Bliumis, Lizania Cruz, David Kennedy Cutler, Chantell Donwell, Flor Flores, Colin Ives, Louise Jones, Melissa Leandro, Melih Meriç, Ben Murray, William J. O’Brien, Olivia Parker, Suneeva Saldanha, Tad Savinar, Eric Stefanski, Raychael Stine, Nicholas Szymanski, Emily Tanner-McLean, Winnie Truong, and Brandi Twilley.

o What: because . . . FLOWERS

o When: May 23 - July 19, 2026

o Where: Gallery 1882, 115 Broadway Ave., Chesterton, Indiana 46304

o Gallery Hours: Sun: 12pm-6pm; Thurs-Fri: 11am–8pm; Sat: 10am-8pm; or by appointment

o Opening Reception: May 23, 2026 from 5:00pm – 8:00pm

Flowers do something powerful to us – they offer beauty, solace, hope. This power is not merely anecdotal nor accidental, but rather “inherited wisdom scribed by evolution into our nerve-endings and brain chemistry. In the presence of flowers our senses glow. Beauty awakens in us.” (David George Haskell, How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature’s Revolutionaries.)

Flowers have always been and will remain fertile subjects for creative exploration. From the earliest depictions in ancient Egyptian cave paintings through almost every culture, religion, society to modern day, flowers have been studied, depicted, celebrated in powerful works of art. And, like the flower subjects themselves, the resultant floral works of art never get old, because they continually allow us to see and experience even the most familiar things in new and exciting ways. 

Perhaps above all else, flowers offer hope. Through their evolution, inventiveness, and cooperation over millions of years, flowers, or what Haskell calls "nature’s revolutionaries”, offer resilience and creativity in the face of rapid environmental upheaval and change. Gallery 1882 believes art can act in the same way. And situated in one of the most biodiverse environments in the United States, we want our inaugural exhibition to celebrate this creative power of flowers and art.

We also want to “give flowers” to the exhibiting artists, to art lovers and to the Chesterton and Duneland community.