BY JEREMY MOSS, MANAGER | CURATOR, HEIDI GALLERY / NOVEMBER 4, 2025
The WAE Open and Beyond
When I had the idea of doing a juried art show called the WAE Open, my hopes were that it would become an all-inclusive cornerstone exhibition for Heidi Gallery.
Now in its 4th year, the WAE Open has become that and so much more. It is an exhibit which is juried blind, meaning that the judges only score the images without any artist information. Being scored on subjective artistic merit opens the door to artists of varying mediums and skill sets. This fits the ethos of Heidi Gallery, which is the merging of established, emerging and underrepresented artists under one roof.
This year’s exhibition has the widest range of artists we have ever had in the gallery. There is a 17-year-old artist, a 74-year-old artist, a WAE member artist, artists with developmental disabilities from Princeton and New York, an artist with fine motor skills disability, a university professor, art teachers, full time professional artists, graphic designers and a partially sighted artist, who presented their artist statement in braille! It is a truly inclusive exhibition.
Opening Reception – WAE Open 2025
A Sound and Synesthesia Performance
Since year two of the WAE Open, we have added creative programming into the gallery.
The Layers of Art program has featured ekphrastic poetry, contemporary dance, and this year a sound and synesthesia performance.
Ekphrastic poetry has become an annual occurrence, due to its popularity. Poets look at the selected WAE Open artworks, choose one, and write a poem in response to the piece. These poems are then performed by the poets in the gallery; it is a wonderful event.
This year I wanted to bring something different to the gallery, so I put together a pair of improvisational musicians and an artist who sees and hears sounds as colors and patterns. It was a one-of-a-kind performance, made even more special because the musicians, who were playing electronic keyboards and theremin, and the synesthesia artist had not met prior to the performance. The outcome was spell binding and was concluded with a Q&A session and some great conversations.
