Heidi Dauphin: Art News from Heidi Dauphin 7/2026

Hello Friends!

I hope this email finds you doing well and enjoying your summer. I am working passionately and frantically in my studio on new work for my 2-person exhibition with Laura Spalding Best!

I am so honored that Vision Gallery and Jillian Nakornthap, curator, have chosen Laura and I to continue our collaboration together in our upcoming exhibition, The Collectionists. Collaborating with Laura in 2024 for the Curiosity Chapel was so much fun and ignited an electric art spark between us that will not die. Although our work visually looks very different, we are bonded by our deliberate process, rules for creating, numbers, and love for collecting and reusing. Individually, I love the work that this collaboration pushes me to create and explore. I am excited to be presenting the largest body of new work that I have generated since grad school in 2001. I promise that this exhibition will not be something that you can quickly view. With over hundreds of objects created by both of us, there will be numerous details to examine, large views to take in, games to play, puzzles to solve, and viewer participation. The exhibition will also change throughout its 11-week duration, making it a must to visit more than once, if you can. The following images are just some behind-the-scenes of my work in progress. Here are the details to mark in your calendars and Save the Dates!

THE COLLECTIONISTS
Heidi Dauphin and Laura Spalding Best
Vision Gallery
10 E Chicago St., Chandler, AZ
Aug 22 - Nov 7
Opening Reception: Friday, Sept 11, 6-8pm
Closing Party: Saturday, Nov 7, 3-5pm

And on Tuesday, Sept 1, from 12-12:30pm
I will give a short talk at
The Chandler Museum
(not Vision Gallery)
Collecting and Gathering: The Art of a Collectionist
This talk is free and open to the public

I have had two amazing studio assistants this summer who have helped me greatly with their sorting skills! Rosie Best worked on breadtags and Malcolm Best worked on pennies. They both sorted by dates and are the BEST assistants that anyone could ask for. I am very grateful!

My collaborator:
Laura Spalding Best, Weaving the Sky
@bestofphoenix
www.lauraspaldingbest.com

I've continued to work on public art and have 3 of these shade structures, Saguaro Blooms, installed across Phoenix intersections. If you are local, you can see them in person at:

SW corner of VanBuren & 28th St.
NE corner of Roosevelt & 16th St.
NE corner of Southern & 19th Ave.

My designs were also accepted to begin work on a new public art project for the Forensic Services Building in Chandler, AZ. These concept drawings were done by my daughter, Maya Channer. I based my design on the three different types of fingerprints: Whorls, Loops, and Arches. Some of you know my history with thumbprints. I incorporated the art into an existing shade structure designed by the building architects. There will be many iterations of this design before its completion and installation in 2028.