Ten Women Artists Examine Memory, Loss, Legacy, and the Meaning We Make of Time
PhotoSC will present Memory is a Verb: Exploring Time and Transience, an exhibition featuring the work of ten women artists from diverse geographies, experiences, and backgrounds. The exhibition opens September 17, 2026, at 918 Lady Street in Columbia, South Carolina, and runs through October 17, 2026.
The project began as a conversation during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time marked by fear, uncertainty, isolation, and loss. As the ten artists longed for a return to normal life, they also found themselves looking back—seeking comfort in their histories and in their connections with one another. The experience of the pandemic gave the group a chance to see the past differently. Rather than simply looking back with nostalgia, the artists in this exhibition ask what our memories mean to us now. What still matters? What has changed? And what is worth carrying forward?
The exhibition Memory is a Verb: Exploring Time and Transience has traveled across the country and has resonated with audiences along the way. PhotoSC is excited to present this important and beautiful work that travels to Columbia, SC from the Vermont Center of Photography in Brattleboro, Vermont. As Building Bridges Art Exchange curator and founder Marisa Caichiolo writes – “the idea that memory exists in the present moment is something that can also be applied to all the artworks presented. As a cohesive collection of works, the exhibition grounds memory as a vital concept in our fast-moving world.”
At its heart, Memory is a Verb is about our desire to connect, to remember, and to be remembered. The work is about honoring the past while deciding what to carry into the future. The exhibition invites us to consider what we hold onto, what we let go of, and what we leave behind. Through ten distinct perspectives, Memory is a Verb: Exploring Time and Transience explores how we make meaning from a changing world and from the lives we have lived.
The exhibition’s participating artists are Aline Smithson, Sarah Hadley, Diane Hemingway, Susan Lapides, Annette LeMay Burke, Rosalie Rosenthal, Lori Ordover, Dena Eber, Jennifer Pritchard and Elizabeth Bailey.