Love is on the minds of many as Valentine’s Day approaches, including Featherstone Center for the Arts which hosts a new gallery exhibit titled Love Lives Here.

The show opens Monday, Feb. 13 and runs every day through Feb. 26.

For Love Lives Here, Featherstone executive director Ann Smith and her staff invited Island artists to interpret the power of love and what “here” means since the Vineyard holds such a power of place, particularly for artists who find inspiration on the Island.

Ms. Smith and her staff were busy this past week: more than 80 artists arrived on Monday and Tuesday to submit pieces for the exhibit. A maximum of two works per artist yielded approximately 150 pieces to be shown. The variety of artistic disciplines includes sculptures, wood works, quilts, origami, paintings, photographs, ceramics, jewelry and even a book of poetry.

“A lot of people interpreted the Valentine’s Day theme literally. There’s a lot of heart-themed artwork,” Ms. Smith said.

Other artists were inspired by a love of the Island. Ms. Smith noted that many landscapes were submitted in varying art forms.

“I think the community will be excited to see what’s here,” she said.

The exhibit is also notable for its timing in February, returning the art center to a long-held tradition of holding a love-themed exhibit during the month.

“In February 2020, we had just opened our show and then on March 13 the world stopped,” Ms. Smith recalled. “We have been slower to come back. We waited until April the last couple of years because of the winter rise in Covid cases. Now we are all learning to live with Covid and we feel like we have to find the new normal. We’re figuring out how to be Featherstone again.”