Dinner Party Guest #4: Nancy X. Valentine

Photo by Sarah Faith Strong

Nancy X. Valentine has a fire inside her. She is lovely and thoughtful with her words, and is so deeply kind. And she has a wild, fiery artist heart that will blaze trails when fully activated.

Nancy is a true modern-day kindred spirit to me. I met her briefly through a mutual friend at a Springboard for the Arts event in Saint Paul, MN before speaking on a panel with her a year later shortly before the early days of Covid. So got to know each other through the internet or zoom calls or the occasional postcard. By the time I finally met up with her again in person, it was spring of 2022. She was assisting Alanna Morris for the Root Restore Reimagine women’s retreat I attended, which brought out a deep sense of sisterhood in everyone who participated. Since then, I have invited her to be a part of much of what I do at the Arthouse, as her presence adds a beautiful depth and she always has such insightful perspectives.

When Mother Trees started to fall into place, she was one of the first artists I invited to the dinner. Not only is Nancy a collaborative artist at hear, but her knowledge of fungi and passion to share that knowledge planted her immediately as a mother tree herself. She lives in rural Ottertail County in MN- a place that affords her the ability to find herself in rhythm with nature and dedicate time to her art and fungi studies. She blended these two passions in her response to the dinner by creating a series of prints of the mushrooms used in the meal by Candace Stock. I am so excited for her to share the full scope of her expression with all of us at the Arthouse Gallery October 1+2

photo courtesy of Nancy X. Valentine