What Comes After the Dream Changes | Sharon Svec - 📍 Vancouver, WA

Sharon Svec was a dancer who was told she couldn't dance any more. Instead of letting that shut down her artistic life, she discovered a way to make 2-D visual art that could move like a dancer did. And her world cracked wide open. She became a textile artist making enormous prints with solar dye, embraced her Roma background, and discovered a passion in curation where she turns "silos into a conversation and into a community."

🗺️ Visit her at smsvec.com | Instagram

👀 For pictures, video, and more, visit the episode page.

🎉 This episode also celebrates:

• Erin Dengerink
• Jason Litts
• Sarah Lynn Hunter
• Chas Martin
• Art at the Cave
• Aqua Gallery 
• Corridor Gallery

>> Get 10% off at Aqua or Corridor Galleries with code Podcast25 <<

⭐️  Thanks to our sponsor, The Bon Vivant Traveler! Mention I'm Into This Place for a discount on your travel planning.

⭐️  Thanks to our sponsor, Riparian Media! Mention I'm Into This Place when you reach out for a free 30-minute strategy session.

Transcript

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[00:00:00] Adriana: Hi everybody. Welcome back to I'm Into This Place, and welcome to our first episode of Season Two. You are going to love all of the incredible guests that we have lined up for you this season. As always, you can find out more about all of our guests by visiting imintothisplace.com. You can click on episodes to see behind the scenes photos and videos, read articles, and find links, and just go deeper with all of the incredible artists and creative people that live right here in our backyard.[00:00:30] 

[00:00:30] I can't think of a better guest to kick off 2026 and our second season with us than Sharon Svec. Many of you know Sharon's work because she is one of our county's top curators of art exhibits at local galleries. She's also an artist herself, and our conversation spans everything from curation to printmaking to Sharon's background as a Roma [00:01:00] artist.

[00:01:00] I loved this conversation with her. I can't wait for you to listen to it. And as always, welcome to, I'm Into This Place. We're so happy you're here.  

Welcome to, I’m Into This Place, your deep dive into the local arts culture, and heritage of Clark County. From fabulous new restaurants to quirky art installations to the historical sites you never even knew to look for, [00:01:26] we’re inviting you along. [00:01:30] Whether you're a Clark County connoisseur or just starting to get to know her, get ready to fall head over heels for this place we call home. I am your host, Adriana Baer, and I'm into this place. Let's go. 

Thank you so much for being with me today. I am so excited to talk about all things art,

[00:01:52] curation, everything that you do, you're such a cornerstone for our community, especially in the [00:02:00] visual arts world. So thank you for taking your time. 

[00:02:02] Sharon: Oh that's really nice of you to say. Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

[00:02:05] Adriana: So let's start with you as an artist. Tell me about the kind of work that you make and where it comes from.

[00:02:13] Sharon: Sure. Yeah. I dabble in a number of things, but most people know me for my tapestries or my textile work. And what I do there is I expose images onto fabric using the sun, and then [00:02:30] I often stencil over the top of them with, uh, spray paint stenciling. So really big wall size textiles. I can take you back to the beginning if you want.

[00:02:41] Adriana: Sure. Let's do it. 

Sharon: Okay. So I was choreographing a dance for, uh, the opening of VOCA, which was an art lab, uh, space that existed for a short amount of time here in Vancouver. And I was also pregnant at the time. [00:03:00] Well, I was diagnosed with placenta previa, which was a misdiagnosis, but since that was the diagnosis at the time, they didn't want me to move for the rest of my pregnancy.

[00:03:13] And they said, well, yeah, you probably shouldn't be dancing or choreographing. And so I stopped. I canceled the performance. The art show that it was gonna be a part of was still gonna go on. One of the organizers [00:03:30] said, oh, surely you could do something else. And I was like, yeah, I don't know. And so I was just being depressed and looking online at photos of dancers, and I came across these images that just struck me and I wanted to see them larger.

[00:03:46] They were of Ruth St. Denis, who was an early modern dancer and the images were just fantastic. I needed to see them bigger, and so I printed on transparency, put it on an overhead projector, projected it [00:04:00] onto a sheet, and the sheet started moving and I thought, oh my God, I can still do a dance performance. 

Adriana: Wow.

[00:04:10] Sharon: I just need to find a way to get these images onto the sheets. Someone has suggested a solar sensitive dye, so I tried that out. I printed two really big diptychs of Ruth St. Denis. I shared [00:04:30] them at the art exhibit. They were a huge success. I was just blown away at how much people connected with them and loved them and I thought, well, I guess I have to keep doing this 'cause people keep asking me about what am I doing next.

[00:04:50] So I guess I should make some more. Um, so yeah, so I did a whole series on Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, and -  

[00:04:58] Adriana: So I think this is a really [00:05:00] interesting throughline here because you had a life as a performer, as a choreographer, as a dancer. And then what happens when you can't do those things? How do you still express yourself creatively?

[00:05:14] How, how can you still create an artwork when you’re limited as you were, and then through these kind of magical touchpoint moments, you ended up discovering a whole different way of making art. 

[00:05:30] Sharon: Yeah. You know, one person said it when they came to my open studios and they saw me working and they said, kind of what you do when you make these is a performance. Because the pieces are so big that I have to move around in these big sweeping motions to like

[00:05:47] put everything together, right? To do the exposure, pull it out of the sun, pull it back into the sun, and all the layering, and all the spraying, you know, it becomes [00:06:00] a dance in itself. 

Adriana: Yep. 

Sharon: So I've started to think about art in performance, but also my practice in curation and in organizing. It's a performance

[00:06:19] when you’re collecting different artists and different pieces of art and putting it in a space. You're composing the scene, the [00:06:30] set, the stage for folks to come in, the audience to come in and experience the performance. 

[00:06:39] Adriana: Yep. Absolutely. And it's through your point of view and your physical interaction with these pieces, that makes the whole thing possible. [00:06:47] Whether we realize it or not, necessarily as an audience member coming into a gallery, like the curator’s personality is in that experience as well. 

[00:07:00] Sharon: When you show art and when you share art, you’re inviting the community to experience your creation, your output. They may interpret it the way that they interpret it, and that's what they need.

[00:07:16] Seeing the creative output of our neighbors helps us come closer together and learn more about each other. It's the purest form of expression, art and music and [00:07:30] creativity. And to be able to share that, to share your pure self and to have another community member look at it and connect with it is helpful to both parties.

[00:07:46] It's helpful to the artist that gets to say, oh good. I’m okay. Somebody else connects to this. I'm okay. And it's good for the viewer to say, oh [00:08:00] wow, somebody gets me. 

Adriana: Yeah. 

Sharon: You know, we're not so different after all. 

[00:08:05] Adriana: Yeah, that's so beautiful because it really shows the impact of those one-to-one connection moments.

[00:08:14] And I think it's interesting with visual art, the artist themselves is almost never actually present when their work is being witnessed. But there's still a connection between the observer [00:08:30] and the artist. Even if the artist never necessarily, you know, hears from that, that patron or whatever saying, oh, I saw your painting and this is how it made me feel.

[00:08:42] Sharon: Right. 

[00:08:43] Adriana: But the the creativity connection moment is still there and is still very real on both sides. 

[00:08:49] Sharon: Yeah. Just as it is for a musical performance or a movie or a stage performance. 

[00:08:56] Adriana: And that deepens our understanding of each other. [00:09:00] So let's talk about your work as a curator a little bit. So you're currently curating three different spaces in Vancouver.

[00:09:07] You've got the Aqua Gallery at Terminal One, which is down on the waterfront. You have Corridor Gallery, which is in one of the buildings across from Esther Short Park where the Community Foundation of Southwest Washington offices are among others. And then you have the Art at the Cave Gallery, which is on Evergreen in downtown Vancouver.[00:09:30] And those three venues are very different physically. 

Sharon: Yeah. 

Adriana: Like totally different vibes. 

Sharon: Yep. 

Adriana: And you also have sort of different directives from the people who own those spaces. For the creativity of the curator, do you pick overarching themes and then find artists that fit inside those themes?

[00:09:52] Sharon: One thing I love, love, love, love, love about curation is taking art [00:10:00] from multiple artists and putting them together in one show and turning these silos into a conversation and into a community. 

[00:10:13] Adriana: I love that so much. Turning the silos into a conversation and into a community. I, I am responding very strongly to that

[00:10:20] 'cause that's what I'm trying to do with I'm Into This Place as well. Right? Is that we're all in this community together, either as a patron or an audience member, or an [00:10:30] appreciator or an artist, or all of those at once. I love art, I love food. I love music. I love dance. So. How can we have a conversation about all of these things in our community as part of what makes our community who we are?

[00:10:45] You are at the intersection of the artist and the audience. What do you wish that Clark County audience members knew about what it's like to be [00:11:00] an artist, an individual artist, or a freelancer? 

[00:11:03] Sharon: Well, I think that artists and creatives in general have so much to offer the community not only through their artwork, but through other skills that they develop because of their artwork.

[00:11:23] So for example, uh, there's a photographer that has a [00:11:30] large format printer. He can do great prints for you. You do not need to go to some corporate shop and just throw your money into the abyss. Uh, by the way, you're throwing twice as much money into the abyss when you go to those larger no name corporations then than if you just talk to a few people around town and say,

[00:11:57] Do you know anybody who can print me a [00:12:00] poster? Do you know anybody who can do an illustration for me? You would be surprised at what you can get for a good price. You could buy a $150 poster that everyone else has. Or you could shop locally and you can buy $150 pieces from local artists. You could spend the same amount of [00:12:30] money.

[00:12:30] You get an original piece of art and you get to support your community. I think a lot of people don't know that they can negotiate, that they can trade. 

[00:12:44] Adriana: Mm-hmm. 

[00:12:45] Sharon: Artists are very willing to trade and to negotiate, so don't forget about that folks. 

[00:12:53] Adriana: Yeah. Are there any exciting partnerships or exhibits or your own work that you're showing in [00:13:00] 2026 that you want to shout out?

[00:13:02] Sharon: I'm excited about in January a show opening at Aqua with Jason Litts, Sarah Lynn Hunter, and Chas Martin. Sarah and Jason are phenomenal painters, and Chas also does watercolor. Uh, but we're gonna see a lot of his, uh, 3D sculptures, which are just fantastic. So I'm excited about that. I had such [00:13:30] happiness and success and fulfillment over the Seeking Warmth exhibit that I did in March at Art at the Cave, which was more of an educational-based exhibit.

[00:13:41] It was more museum-esque in that sense. And so I'm hopeful to do at least one of those per year where the exhibit extends into a series [00:14:00] of talks or workshops or resources. With Seeking Warmth, we had two different films that we played at the Kiggins and three presentations where we brought in faculty and staff from local universities and they came in and spoke on certain subjects.

[00:14:22] So I, I'm looking forward to, uh, finding ways to, well get funding so [00:14:30] I can pay all the speakers and everybody, but to do more things like that. 

[00:14:34] Adriana: So we have the opportunity to see the work that you are curating and showcasing all these other artists. But I also wanna shout out that you, of course, are an artist as well, and you do sometimes have your own shows

[00:14:49] which we can find out about, especially by following you on Instagram. Yeah. So I am gonna link that in the show notes and on our episode page so that everybody can follow you [00:15:00] and see where your work is going to be next shown.

[00:15:02] Sharon: Yeah. Speaking of showing and shows, uh, I don't have anything planned coming up, but one show that I was really proud of was, uh, a couple years ago I got to send work to Berlin

[00:15:17] to exhibit at the European Institute of Roma Arts and Culture. That was really exciting for me. 

[00:15:27] Adriana: Tell me about that Roma art and your [00:15:30] connection. 

[00:15:30] Sharon: Yeah, absolutely. So Roma, through my dad's side, the pejorative term, more common term that people will recognize is Gypsy. My family is from Poland and Slovakia.

[00:15:46] And my grandfather told me, uh, when, when he told me about my heritage, he said, you know, it's something to be proud of. It's a wonderful, wonderful culture. Uh, however, [00:16:00] your life is gonna be more difficult if you share that about yourself with people. So I spent most of my life being quietly proud of that.

[00:16:12] But when people would ask me, because people do, where are you from? Where is your family from? And if you don't give them an answer, they will give you an answer and they will decide where you're from. I don't think it's always ill intended, [00:16:30] but it often feels ugly. Years and years and years pass of me

[00:16:38] just trying to navigate those questions and being really afraid, uh, career-wise of sharing anything about that because the stereotypes around Roma people are oftentimes associated with criminal activity or just highly romanticized. I [00:17:00] got to a place in my life and in my career. Where I felt like, this is it, I'm not gonna do it anymore.

[00:17:08] I see people all around me proudly, uh, sharing their heritage and their culture, and I'm gonna share mine. So I started being more open about my Roma background and have done some things in the community related to that. The pieces in [00:17:30] Berlin, one was a diptych of Ruth St. Denis and the other two were of myself in my planet series where I'm messing around with planets, a full size human figure playing with planets. And it really felt good to be recognized not only internationally, but also by other Roma.

[00:17:51] Adriana: That's so cool. Well, Sharon, as you know, at the end of every episode, I always ask my guests to shout out somebody that they're really excited about so that we can continue [00:18:00] to share the love in the community. So, while you're thinking about that, I will give a shout out for our own weekly newsletter. So those of you listening, if you're not already subscribed, this is where we share even more about the amazing creative people and organizations in our community, and we give you a curated overview of upcoming events.

[00:18:21] We link to the episode page for that week's podcast where we post behind the scenes photos and even special offers from our guests. [00:18:30] And Sharon has graciously offered 10% off of any piece at the Aqua Gallery or the Corridor Gallery. And so if you want to purchase a piece of art at either of those two places, you can use the code Podcast 25 to get that

[00:18:50] amazing discount. So we'll link to more information about that in the show notes and on the episode page. You can sign up for our newsletter by going to [00:19:00] imintothisplace.com or click the link in the show notes. So thank you so much for doing that. Alright Sharon, what place or person are you really into these days?

[00:19:10] Sharon: Yeah, well, um, I have to mention Ann John because, um, she's been such a big part of my creative development. But I understand she's already been mentioned recently. So I would also like to mention Erin Dengerink who is an artist in the community and [00:19:30] she has the online gallery BTW MoMA. So she has a miniature gallery in her cupboard, and she has a social media thread on Instagram where you can see her installations that she puts in her little, little corner gallery.

[00:19:45] So great. 

[00:19:46] Adriana: That's so cool. Thank you so much for shouting both of those people out. And yes, if you'd like to hear more of a shout out for Ann John, you can listen back to our episode with Jennifer Williams about Clark County Open Studios. [00:20:00] Well, Sharon, this was an absolute delight. I feel like I now know so much more about all of the spaces that you're curating, what it means to be a curator, and you've given us a lot to think about about how

[00:20:14] we are in community with each other. 

[00:20:15] Sharon: Awesome. Thank you so much. 

[00:20:17] Adriana: Thank you. 

And now let’s hear from you. This is our Community Voices segment where you call in to shout out your favorites in local arts [00:20:30] culture and heritage. Community Voices is sponsored by Johnson Bixby, Vancouver’s woman-owned, women-led financial planning and portfolio management firm helping you plan for - and celebrate - life’s possibilities. Advisory services by Johnson Bixby, SEC-registered. Securities through Private Client Services, Member FINRA/SIPC.

[00:20:53] Guest: Hello, my name is Jessica Geffen and I am really into the Vancouver Public Libraries. I have been a huge fan of the community library here in Vancouver.

It is absolutely beautiful. I just feel so happy every single time I walk in that beautiful space. I love the children's floor. My daughter and I have been going to the library and experiencing and enjoying the children's floor since. Uh, she was a little kiddo and I love the rooftop deck area. It's a beautiful view of downtown Vancouver and you can even see officers row in the fort.

[00:21:36] Um, I just love it. And then I also really, really love that quiet room with the fireplaces. I can just ly get so much work done there. So I'm a huge fan of all of the libraries here in Vancouver, but especially the beautiful community library here in Vancouver. 

[00:21:56] Adriana: We'd love to hear from you. What are your favorite spots in Clark County? Who really deserves a shout out? Give us a call and leave a message, or send us a voice note via email. All the details on how to do that are in the show notes.

I’m Into This Place is produced and edited by me, Adriana Baer. Engineering by Tansy Aster [00:22:18] Creative. This episode was recorded at the Sound Stage, the Northwest's Premier voiceover and recording studio. You can find out more about Sharon Svec and about us at imintothisplace.com. See you out there.