MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — Middletown Art Center invites the public to its 47th exhibit opening, “Belonging,” Saturday, Oct. 15, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Come see the new display, enjoy the work and meet the artists.

During the opening, visitors can participate in collaborative art making that expresses a sense of belonging to place and to Lake County’s arts and culture community.

Belonging is a deep and primal need to feel a part of something larger than ourselves, be it family, tribe, religion, culture, gender identity or place.

Feelings around belonging and/or alienation are central to the human experience and a core part of our ability to thrive.

Without a sense of belonging, we are apt to drift into despair and, as we often see in the animal kingdom, perish.

Both familiar and new local and regional artists including several Native American artists who participated in MAC’s most recent show, “Earth, Sky, and Everything In Between,” are featured in the new exhibit.

Their work speaks to belonging in multiple ways and is sometimes edgy, sometimes romantic, cultural, gender-based, place-based or formal.

“Questions and notions around the sense of belonging underscored MAC’s year-long cross-cultural ‘Weaving Baskets, Weaving Bridges’ project through weaving workshops, stories, and conversations about roots, cultural identity, historical trauma, and otherness with Native American cultural educators and artists,” said MAC’s artistic director Lisa Kaplan. “Belonging organically emerged as the theme for our next show.”

As Brenee Brown wrote in her book “Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone,” “True belonging is not passive. It’s a practice that requires us to be vulnerable, get uncomfortable, and learn how to be present with people without sacrificing who we are.”

“Belonging” will be on view through Jan. 8, Thursday through Monday, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment. It’s free to the public.

A virtual tour will be available by the end of October on MAC’s website.

MAC is located at 21456 State Highway 175 at the junction of Highway 29 in Middletown.

To find out more about “Belonging” and other programs, events, arts and cultural engagement opportunities, and ways to support the MAC’s efforts to weave the arts and culture into the fabric of life in Lake County, visit www.middletownartcenter.org or call 707-809-8118.