Love is Love

Every February, the Love Is Love art show reminds me why local art spaces matter. It’s more than a Valentine’s Day exhibition it’s a gathering point. A moment when artists come together to explore love in all its forms: romantic, platonic, communal, self-directed, complicated, and joyful.

This year, Love Is Love is taking place at The Lobby Club in Trenton, New Jersey, a venue that feels especially fitting for a show rooted in connection and community. The exhibition brings together local artists working across styles and mediums, each responding to the theme of love through their own lens and lived experience. What I appreciate most about this show is its openness there’s no single definition of love on display, only conversation.

Curated by Buck Malvo, the show creates space for that dialogue to exist without hierarchy. Emerging and established artists share the room, reflecting the diversity and depth of Trenton’s creative community. Shows like this are reminders that meaningful art doesn’t only live in major institutions it lives where people gather.

This year’s exhibition is especially meaningful to me because it will mark the debut of my wedding reception painting. The piece captures a moment of celebration, intimacy, and collective joy one that feels deeply aligned with the Love Is Love theme. Sharing this work in a space centered on connection and community feels intentional, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to introduce it within this context.

Valentine’s Day often centers a narrow idea of love, but Love Is Love expands that definition. Love shows up here as memory, care, resistance, and presence. It exists in shared moments, in chosen family, and in the spaces that allow creativity to flourish.

As an artist who paints scenes and spaces with care, I’m always thinking about how environments shape meaning. Exhibitions like this remind me that gathering showing work, supporting one another, and making room for dialogue is itself an act of love.

Love Is Love reflects what I value about Trenton’s art community: collaboration, accessibility, and authenticity. It’s a celebration not only of art, but of the relationships that make art possible. I’m honored to debut this new work in a show that embodies those values so fully.