An Art Exhibit Not To Sleep On

Frightening, surreal, whimsical and enchanting—what better subject could one pick for art inspiration than dreams?

Beginning April 30 and running through May 14, the Poudre River Arts Center will kick off its first Dream Art Show, featuring art inspired by dreams or about the dream state, of course.

The exhibit is the brainchild of Fort Collins artist Kat Peters-Midland, who will have two of her own pieces featured in the exhibit. Both an artist and a dream worker, Peters-Midland found the upcoming art show the perfect way to unite both of her passions.

“I decided it would be a good idea to have a dream art show to celebrate how dreams can inform the creative process,” the six-year Fort Collins artist said.

Art featured in the show will cover a range of styles and techniques.

“It’s pretty varied,” Peters-Midland said. “We’ve got painting, sculpture, mosaic—we’ve even got a dream-inspired movie submitted from California. We have an art book and also fabric art as well.”

Peters-Midland’s own pieces are representative of the variation the rest of the show will display. She’ll be featuring a sculpture inspired by one of her own dreams and a painting depicting a crystal tree that was inspired by a dream told to her.

“The sculpture is more private. What I’d be comfortable sharing was it was a dream I had as my friend was dying, and I knew it was preparing me for her transition,” she said. “I created this sculpture to express the dream that I had, and it also was a part of my grief process.”

The woman who related the dream of a crystal tree gave Peters-Midland permission to recount the dream and adapt it to art.

In the dream the woman goes to an airfield with nothing but an old wooden barn and a two-seater plane parked in the field behind it. Two guardians accompanying the woman say goodbye and take off in the plane. The woman sees a tree to her right with crystals that “blaze” and “twinkle” as they hang down like leaves. In the sky behind the tree, the woman can see the two guardians silhouetted against the moon, waving before they disappear.

Peters-Midland’s said the painting is less of a straightforward account of the dream and more her personal interpretation and adaptation. “I listen to a dream and I get this idea for an image and then I start working on it,” she said.

She said the response she received from artists all over the country was overwhelming. Many artists had found dreams to be the basis of their art as well.

“It’s amazing how many artists I’ve met who do use dream images to create their art,” Peters-Midland said. “We think a lot of deeper things we’re not aware of in our waking life and that’s what makes dreams so interesting and different.”


To Go:

• The first annual Dream Art Show at the Poudre River Arts Center will run from April 30 through May 14.
• Open and free to the public.
• Opening reception, featuring food and music, is from 6-9 p.m. Friday, May 2
• Gallery hours: 10 a.m. -5 p.m. Monday through Saturday during exhibit. Regular hours of 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday to resume after May 14.