Behind the Mask is a show about the faces we wear, the selves we hide, and

the permission a mask gives us to step outside ourselves.

Long before they were costume pieces, masks were sacred objects, used across cultures to

summon spirits, mark rites of passage, and give form to the parts of ourselves that have no face

of their own. Behind the Mask explores that lineage: identity, transformation, and the space

between the selves we reveal and the selves we conceal.

Work by members of the Bolm Arts Collective, including sculpture, painting, and an immersive

installation, hangs alongside a growing community mask wall made by neighbors, students, and

artists of all experience levels. Together, they challenge the boundaries the art world often

draws around itself and ask who gets to call themselves an artist. Like a mask, they suggest,

the title is something anyone can pick up and put on.

A mask offers permission: to play, to exaggerate, to try on a version of yourself you'd never

otherwise let out. This show extends that permission to everyone who walks through the door.

Behind the Mask will be on view at Bolm Arts Gallery from October 9

through October 31, 2026. An opening reception takes place Friday, October 9, from 7–10 PM,

and the show closes with a Halloween masquerade on Saturday, October 31, from 7–10 PM.

Come in your best mask or costume!