Polishing the Stone

To polish the stone is to enter into a slow conversation between matter and spirit. It is the work of returning - again and again - to what is unfinished, unresolved, opaque. In the language of alchemy, the Philosopher's Stone transforms not by small effort but by attention: through difficulty, repetition, and faith in process.

ShapeShifter Art School was born of the same alchemical labor - five artists gathering around an idea and choosing to stay, even when the work became difficult. We turned full circle, more than once, learning to listen deeply to one another, to hold tension without shattering, to move from many voices into one shared pulse. What emerged is not only our new home, but a collective act of becoming - an experiment in community-as-creative-practice.

"Polishing" is not about perfection but about contact - the way time, touch, and persistence reveal what lay hidden beneath the surface.

Founder Personal Statements

Elizabeth Alley

The concept of polishing the stone for me is about returning to my practice to continuously connect myself to the places I paint, even when the work is frustrating, and even when no one sees the results.Repetition plays an important role in my work

The pieces I contributed to Polishing the Stone feature places that I return to in my mind and in my work. I’m always searching for ways to connect with special places through this practice, looking for the spark of memory, turning half-remembered landscapes into paintings and drawings.


Nikii Richey

It is an honor to be a part of this show with these amazing artists. It is also an honor to call them my friends and I am incredibly proud of what we have built together at ShapeShifter.

I'm so excited for the possibilities and how this community space will impact and uplift our city. We truly hope it will be a place for experimentation and exploration.  A place for your imagination to run wild.


Pam McDonnell

For me, polishing the stone has been the slow work of transformation - the turning of matter into meaning. What begins in darkness becomes illuminated through friction, reflection, and the long dialogue with the Self.

Each encounter, each study, each act of creation refines the surface a little more, revealing what was hidden within. ShapeShifter Art School continues this alchemical process: a living multiplicatio, where individual sparks merge into shared light. In community, the polishing deepens - many becoming one, the ordinary made luminous.


Melissa Dunn

Artists mostly work alone. We face ourselves to excavate, digging deeply, always searching for the call and response between life and the work.  This tool of being able to go inward becomes magic, though, when we share our private worlds with each other.

The ability to “polish the stone” has been helpful as we’ve slowly built ShapeShifter Art School.  Together we refine, we tweak, we challenge.  Opening the door of this space to the community is a reminder that we actually don’t ever make art in a vacuum.