When I first met artist Cara Romero, her list of awards on Wikipedia was long, but nothing like it is now. I love and live with art, but I don’t understand it the way artists and gallerists do. So we became friends talking about family, business and our professional ambitions.
In the award-winning PBS documentary Cara Romero: Following the Light, Romero says: “We make art out of a need to connect, to communicate, to maybe not be lonely and introspective. You’re really trying to bare your soul and what’s in your deepest places. Those pieces that are the scariest for me are the ones that people connect with, feminine and vulnerable. … I made a promise to myself in self-care and in healing that I would always pursue my art, it was the one thing that made me whole.”
That vulnerability and authenticity showed up when Romero was weighing the opportunity to be represented by her dream gallery. We talked about the opportunities representation would provide — shows, placement, prestige — and the opportunities she could create: connection, community, sustainability.
