Art Matters: Staying Sane in a Crazy World - Janice Mathews-Gordon, ’81 | Hancock Symposium 2021

2021 Hancock Symposium executive session #4 by Janice Mathews-Gordon, ’81
Visual Artist, Owner of JMG Art, Inc., and First Female Graduate of Westminster College, on "Art Matters: Staying Sane in a Crazy World." September 15, 2021, 3:30 pm in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin Aldermanbury.

Art and creativity have always helped sustain us during times of upheaval and crisis, including the recent months of pandemic and social unrest. Baked deep in our DNA, the drive to create manifests itself in countless ways. This presentation will explore this most human trait and its profoundly positive effects even during COVID’s grip, as Janice shares examples and thoughts from her own artistic journey. As she demonstrates the necessity of art in maintaining a healthy and humane world, she will also offer inspiration for finding our own creative path as we navigate uncertain days ahead.
Janice Mathews-Gordon became the first woman graduate of Westminster College in 1981, graduating summa cum laude with the highest grade point average in her class. Upon graduation, Mathews-Gordon worked as a graphic designer in St. Louis and then Oklahoma City. In 1988, she opened her own business, JMG Advertising Design, Inc., an award-winning agency specializing in innovative marketing approaches, graphic design, and creative writing. In 2008, she moved into the fine art arena and began her successful career as a mixed media painter. Since then, Mathews-Gordon has exhibited her paintings in numerous national and regional shows. In 2013, her paintings were featured in a solo exhibition at the Oklahoma State Capitol. Her newest series of abstract paintings was featured in a solo exhibition in August 2019. Titled “All My Sisters,” these bold expressions of women celebrate the lives and hopes of all women, her sisters in the broader sense. She has spent the many months during the pandemic in the studio trying new approaches and considering new creative possibilities.
The 2021 Hancock Symposium on "Beyond 2020: Finding Opportunity in an Age of Disruption" invited Westminster students to actively and creatively examine the disruptions of 2020 in order to cast a vision for our collective future. If we needed reminders that life will serve up challenges none of us would have predicted, the year 2020 provided plenty. The great pandemic, heated protests over racial injustice, and a disputed election dominated the headlines. But other great disruptions troubled us at least as much: some as global as environmental disasters, others as personal as the loss of a job or a loved one in the midst of COVID-19. Disruption is often painful, but with it comes opportunity. When the familiar ways forward are blocked, we explore new ways, whether in science and technology, business and finance, politics and justice, or even in how we imagine community and relationships. Beyond 2020, we have the chance to break new ground, letting go of old paradigms and embracing new, innovative ways of working and living together.
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