Member’s Spotlight Exhibitions

The Member’s Spotlight Exhibitions at The Contemporary Dayton celebrate the vibrant creativity of our local and regional artist community. Open to all current artist members, this ongoing series offers participants the unique opportunity to present a focused body of work in a solo exhibition curated by Heather Jones, Curator and Director of Programs and Engagement.

Each exhibition is installed in The T. Chase Hale & Jonathan A. Hale Gallery and remains on view for one month, opening with a public reception on the first Wednesday and continuing through the last Saturday of the month. These exhibitions not only highlight the diverse practices and perspectives of our members but also provide a professional platform for artists to gain visibility and engage directly with audiences.

Most artworks are available for purchase, with proceeds supporting both the artist and The Contemporary Dayton’s mission to advance equity, diversity, and access through contemporary art. Participation in the Member’s Spotlight series is one of the many valuable benefits of being an artist member of The Contemporary Dayton.

Currently on View

Amy Deal, Leaves, 2024, monoprint, series of 19, 13 x 13 inches, $125 each. Courtesy of the artist.

Amy Deal: Impressions of Stillness

November 5 – 29, 2025

Opening Reception: November 5, 6 – 8 pm

Closing Reception: November 29, 4 – 6 pm

In Impressions of Stillness, Amy Deal invites viewers into a quiet dialogue with nature’s fleeting rhythms. Through a series of delicate monoprints, unique, one-of-a-kind prints, Deal transforms the simple form of a leaf into a meditation on change, renewal, and the passage of time. Each print is both gesture and echo, a trace of movement that captures the moment between presence and disappearance. Embracing the unpredictability of the monoprint process, Deal mirrors nature’s own spontaneity, creating works that hover between abstraction and memory, stillness and transformation.

All artworks in this exhibition are available for purchase. Please visit the reception desk or speak to a staff member for more information. Proceeds support both the artist and The Contemporary Dayton’s mission to connect artists and audiences through accessible, engaging contemporary art experiences.

ARTIST STATEMENT

In this series of monoprints, I explore the stillness of leaves: their delicate structures, fleeting imprints, and the rhythm they bring to the natural world. Each composition of prints captures a moment of transformation, where shape, texture, and color converge in abstraction.

Rather than depicting leaves as literal forms, I interpret them as symbols of renewal and impermanence. Through layering, pressing, and lifting pigment from the surface, I embrace the unpredictability of the monoprint process, a mirror of nature’s own spontaneity.

These works invite viewers to pause and notice the subtleties that often go unseen: the whisper of a contour, the breath of negative space, the harmony between what remains and what fades. The result is a visual meditation, a balance between control and surrender, permanence and change.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Amy Deal was born in Cranberry Prairie, Ohio, and is currently based in Dayton. She has recently exhibited in group shows featuring international artists at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and has completed artist residencies in Brooklyn, New York, and South Carolina. Deeply connected to the natural world, Deal’s work explores themes of growth, transformation, and plant life, often using abstraction as a means of interpreting nature’s quiet resilience.