I’m talking today with Jeffrey Lazos Ferns - Gallery Director at C Gallery Art in Scottsdale, Arizona. The gallery opened a coffee shop inside and I introduced myself to him and we could’ve talked all day! Jeffrey is a native Arizonan. He’s worked with DC Ranch Art in administration over 25 years. He mentions working under the “whole umbrella” of the arts. His passion is arts and culture with a focus at looking at art in the community and using art as a catalyst for positive change. There are many variations of art where you can use it to build bridges in society and within communities.         Jeffrey’s current position as Gallery Director for C Gallery Art came to him while he was working in Administration and Communications for Arizona American Indian Tourism Association. The pandemic hit and he knew that it would take a while for the industry to fully recover. Charlene Falk, owner of the gallery had a very specific vision for the director position and he was chosen based on his past experience and the collective vision they had for the gallery. The space used to be a realty office but the gallery has been in that space for a year. They closed for a month during the pandemic and then put together a plan and vision for the gallery in May and June. The idea as they move into their art season is to do public programs and build on the vision of being an arts and culture hub that features female artists. Who inspired you to show women’s artwork? Jeffrey was raised by single mother who had eight kids, four of them being sisters. He describes her as a very feminist and strong woman that encompassed the values of a mother - love, family and caring. Jeffrey notes that throughout his many roles in his career in the arts that there’s always been a big presence of the patriarchy and even in the sub roles in museums a lot of women were running leadership roles but their art wasn’t being showcased. They would be really talented as artists but would take a position as an administrator because their work wasn’t valued; maybe not intentionally but old institutions weren’t able to look past those blocks for so long. Jeffrey states, “Being connected to strong women my entire life I knew that this wasn’t what I should do, this is what I have to do. My mother, being a native woman of color, didn't let anyone tell her she couldn’t do anything. That mentality is what I see in so many extraordinary women artists."