The first art exhibition I curated opened on a beautiful spring evening. Weeks of preparation went into creating a perfect opening night, so much work to make it look effortless. Waiting inside the gallery I eavesdropped on the attendees murmuring over wine in the lobby. I had fiddled with my new dress enough to work creases into the fabric, and mentally rehearsed my speech until it had become meaningless syllables. As the gallery doors swung open I sought my family, my special guests for my special night. “Oh,” they said to me, glancing around. “We thought it would be bigger.”
Kat Steenson is a writer, library worker, and cat fosterer from England. Twitter: @katsteenson