Hwhup The Deans List? The Jason Dean here, bringing an end to the Weekend like it the Metaverse. It started with a lot of promise and tons of excitement, but as it progressed, it was obviously just kind of ‘ehh’ even as you threw money at it like it was a stripper until eventually, it became clear that it was over and it was time to move on to the next thing. For Mark Zuckerberg, that’s Artificial Intelligence. For you, it’s Monday.

Anyways. Let’s get into it.

Gallery show update

Earlier this week, before now but after the great Snowpocaplyse of 2026 (and HUGEST of HUGE thanks to Richard and Brian for all their help getting my driveway clear of snow), I met with the folks at The Gallery to talk logistics and get the ball rolling on my upcoming gallery show. I’m excited, they’re excited, and I hope you’re excited too!

Over the coming weeks, there will be official promotions for this event which I will be sharing here and there. Until then, I am keeping my cards close to the chest- but I can tell you that the show’s theme is a callback to my start as an artist.

Hmmm, what could that be? I’d love to hear what you think it might be in the comments!

New Art in my own space

Here’s what I’ve been cooking up in the lab 😎

After having a record-breaking amount of snow dumped on us last weekend by an incredibly aggressive storm that, on the calendar, fell at the tail-end(?) of an incredibly aggressive winter, it’s easy to forget that snow fall can be gentle and quiet and beautiful.

I took this photo back in December…you know, back when the sight of snow falling didn’t cause a post-traumatic stress reaction in my lower back.

Another painterly photograph of gently falling snow from back in December. This one was taken by the entrance to the Black Rocks in Presque Isle Park. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for my ice bath.

When I think of favorite photography subjects, thorns admittedly don’t come to front of mind- yet every time I encounter them in the wild, I poke myself. Then, I try to capture them with my camera because they are really neat!

Live Streaming

There’s still time to sign up for my Live Stream soft launch. Just send me an email at [email protected] and I will send you a link to join me at 7:00 PM EST on Tuesday, March 24th. I can’t promise the experience will be seamless, but it will be entertaining.

Actually, I can’t promise it will be entertaining either. Still, you should totally come to it 😎

Fun Home Production photos

Later today, I’ll be taking production photos for the Big Lake Theatre Co. production of Fun Home. If you’ve been following their social media accounts, you’ve seen some of the promotional photos that I took, and they turned out really cool if I do say so myself. Now, I’ll get to photograph the actual performance, which is one of my absolute favorite kinds of photography to do.

If you can, you should definitely check out the show itself! As of this writing there’s still some tickets available, so make sure to grab yours here.

100 Day Project Update

Here’s where ‘We, The Songs We’ve Sung’ stands after about 8.5 weeks.

Waves are Wednesdays Preview

Behold: the wave photo that I will be sharing this coming Wednesday for ‘Waves are Wednesdays’ on social media.

Thank you for being here, for reading this far, and for being a supporter and follower of the work. It means the world, friends!

We’re Dreaming

As the world around us gets darker, it’s important to find sources of light- kind, humble people that have positive energy, work hard, and refuse to quit regardless of the obstacles that they encounter.

People like Richard Jacobson.

Richard is a US Military Veteran, a current college student, a husband, and a father. If it wasn’t for a timely liver transplant though, that ‘is’ would be a ‘was’. It’s a sobering thought, but it’s one that Richard embraces. He is working on a self-portrait series about what he’s gone through and I absolutely LOVE how he does not shy away from his past pain and darkness but rather uses them to tell his story of recovery and the impact his liver transplant had on turning his life around. His photographs are intense, raw, vulnerable, honest, personal- but please, don’t take my word for it. Check out his work on Facebook and Instagram and make sure that you’re sitting down when you do.

He is also working on using his photography to tell the stories of other organ donors and raise awareness for this extremely important need. It’s inspiring to see how he’s grabbed this second chance by the horns and is using it to make a positive impact in his community.

To Richard- thank you for being a dreamer! And everyone else- if you aren’t already, please consider becoming an organ donor. It is a small decision that could make a huge difference in the lives of someone that you don’t know in ways that you cannot possibly begin to imagine.

Thanks for reading, folks! If you’ve read this far, I’d love to hear in the comments what part of today’s newsletter resonated with you the most. I’d also appreciate if you could share on your social media accounts. If you’re reading this and aren’t subscribed yet, click that Email Inbox Delivery Portal to have The Weekender delivered right to your virtual door 🙂

See you around,

Jason