Bolm Arts and the Black Box Gallery present ART & EMPATHY, a collaborative art exhibition open to the public showcasing the art of the local Austin creative community. Curated by Michelle Rahbar and Nicole Josephine Kline, the exhibition brings together artists whose practices explore empathy as both a personal and collective experience.

Empathy is often spoken of as a personal virtue or an instinctive response. This exhibition treats it instead as a shared and evolving, though sometimes contested practice. Bringing together works by multiple artists, the exhibition explores empathy not as a given, but as something learned, withheld, negotiated, and unevenly distributed. Across bodies, identities, and social positions, the works ask: How do we come to recognize ourselves in others, or rather, how do we remain open to what we cannot fully know? Whose pain is recognized, and whose is ignored?

Across varied materials and perspectives, the artists create spaces for reflection rather than resolution. Empathy here is not presented as certainty or agreement, but as an ongoing encounter: a willingness to pause, to notice, and to be affected. The exhibition invites viewers to move slowly, to feel carefully, and to consider empathy as something shared— formed between bodies, voices, and lived experiences.

ART & EMPATHY will be presented at the AISD Performing Arts Center, located at 1500 Barbara Jordan Blvd, Austin, TX 78723, in mid-April 2026. Additional exhibition details, including opening reception information, will be announced soon.