From Gallery to Living Room: Rethinking Home Design Through Installation Art

In this episode of Home in Progress, Dan Hansen welcomes back former co-host Hailey Johnson for a conversation that blends art, creativity, and home design.

Hailey shares what she’s been doing since stepping away from the show—focusing on product and color training at RepcoLite and continuing her work as an artist and curator. One of her newest projects is Hammer Space Gallery 2.0, an artist-run exhibition space she operates out of a detached garage, created to give installation artists and experimental creators more opportunities to show their work in Grand Rapids.

The conversation explores installation art—a form of art that creates an immersive environment rather than a single object on a wall. Hailey explains how installation artists think about space, movement, materials, and the emotional experience of viewers.

Dan and Hailey also preview the upcoming exhibition “Heaviest, Heaviest, Heaviest,” opening March 14 from 4:30–7:30 PM at Do Not Start in southwest Grand Rapids. The show features work by filmmaker Seejohn Czaplicki, installation artist Isabella Werschky, kinetic sculptor Abhishek Narula, and sound artist Nick Buwalda, including a live-composed sound performance.

Along the way, the discussion connects artistic thinking to everyday design decisions in our homes. Topics include how objects relate to one another in a room, designing spaces around emotion rather than rules, choosing materials intentionally, and creating environments that invite curiosity.

Whether you’re an art lover or simply trying to make your home feel more intentional, this conversation offers a fresh way to think about the spaces we live in.

HEAVIEST, HEAVIEST, HEAVIEST

1. March 14, 4:30 - 7:30
2. at Do Not Start (1265 Godfrey Ave SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503)
3. Learn More

Episode Breakdown

00:00 Welcome back Hailey

00:55 Why loving a color matters more than perfect technique

02:34 Life update since leaving the show

04:16 Hammer Space Gallery and artist-run spaces

06:01 Why Grand Rapids needs more exhibition opportunities

10:51 What installation art actually is

13:19 Preview of Heaviest, Heaviest, Heaviest

20:47 Event details and invitation

24:21 Design lessons from installation art

25:42 Thinking about rooms as a whole composition

27:33 Flow, movement, and how people move through spaces

28:40 Designing rooms around feeling

30:16 Concept behind the exhibition

31:28 Making intentional material choices

32:31 A performance built around simple materials

35:25 Collecting art with personal meaning

37:14 Inviting curiosity into your home

41:05 Finding joy in quirky design (the cat clock moment)

44:13 When art challenges the viewer

45:31 Seeing ordinary materials differently

47:38 Event details and closing