Some of you might be familiar with the story of Vivian Maier.  She was an American woman who worked as a nanny for the majority of her life.  She was a private person who often took pictures on her days off.  It was really only after her death, that the world discovered her photographs, when a stranger bought the contents of her storage locker in an auction.  Many of the rolls of film had never been developed.  Her work is now considered among the finest American street photography, with comparisons to Diane Arbus and Lisette Model. It’s scary to think that it could easily have never been discovered.  I doubt Vivian herself could have imagined the way her art would come to light and continue to touch the hearts of people.  I saw the exhibition that was held at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery a couple of years ago and the photos are beautiful and haunting and sad and whimsical and rich.  Vivian Maier had a gift and I’m glad someone discovered her gift and shared it with the rest of us.

What is in your storage locker?  We are all artists, every one of us.  You can read more about her at vivianmaier.com, you won’t be the only one to sit and wonder what her life must have been like.  As the website says, she is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.  You can look at her story as tragic or hopeful or both. But we all have something magical that we store away and we hope that someday, somehow, our art will see the light of day.