Year: 2016

Alliance for the Arts is seeking artists to present their work at the 30th Annual All Florida Juried Exhibit. The exhibition is open to all artists residing in Florida.

Categories for entry are sculpture, painting (including oil, acrylic, collage, water color and mixed media), photography, prints and drawing. An entry consists of 1 to 3 artworks. All entries must be submitted online no later than April 30, 2016 at www.artinlee.org/all-florida. Only original artwork will be accepted.

Accepted entries must be dropped off no later than May 31. The opening reception will be Friday, June 3 from 5 to 7 PM. Messersmith will be on hand to present awards, including $1,000 cash for Best in Show and a $250 gift certificate for 2^nd place, and $100 cash, Jurors Choice Award-Artist Membership for 3^rd place. The exhibit runs through June 30.

This year’s juror, Harry Messersmith, maintains a full service bronze/glass foundry and sculpture atelier and continues to refine his sculpture he describes as triangulated figures. He gives the following characterization of his artistic vision. “I have been developing a series of triangulated, figurative, architectural works since 1982. My work addresses the evolution of technology and its positive and negative effects upon the human condition. I strive to express, through the human figure, a dynamic balance of tension that exists between science and spiritual enlightenment, a condition for civilization to progress with dignity”.

Messersmith received a grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation to attend a master artist residency with Gio Pomodoro at The Atlantic Center for the Arts in November of 1999. He then traveled to Milan, Italy in June, 2000 to promote “The Bronze Exhibit”, a group exhibition that included three of his figurative bronze sculptures.

Messersmith served as executive director of The Museum of Art- Deland from 1989–1995, and director of The Lighthouse Gallery and School of Art in Tequesta, Florida from 1995–1996. Before becoming director of The Museum of Art-Deland, Messersmith served for three years as an artist-in-education for the Volusia County Public Schools; he has also taught fine art and sculpture at Daytona College, Stetson University, Crealde School of Art, Harris House, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and The University of Central Florida.

Messersmith earned his Master’s degree in fine art and sculpture from the University of Florida under J. G. Naylor in 1983, and his Bachelor of art degree from Stetson University under his father Fred L. Messersmith and Dan Gunderson in 1981.

Join members of the SWFL Fine Craft Guild as they demonstrate their specialties at the Alliance for the Arts during “Artists@Work.” This free, family-friendly demo day runs on Saturday, March 5 from 10AM-1PM during the weekly Alliance GreenMarket. Watch local artists create works in a variety of mediums including Lorraine Capps, Sherry Moesch, Martha Grattan, Lynn Ondercin & Trudy Sampson, Renee Farr, Toni Ory, Randy & Analilia Clay, Nancy-Gray-Giffin, Suzanne Suber, Nancy Van Tassell, Sandy Johnston, and Pam Jones. Don’t miss this great opportunity for the whole family to meet some of this area’s finest craftswomen on Saturday, March 5.  Some artwork will be for sale. Members of the SWFL Fine Craft Guild combine old world craftsmanship with contemporary techniques to produce unique works of art.

The March exhibit at the Alliance for the Arts brings together works from two artists, Arizona-based sculptor Lee Brotherton and painter Melissa Barry who works from studios in Fort Myers and upstate New York. The opening reception is Friday, March 4 at 5PM. The artists will lead a Gallery Walk & Talk on Saturday, March 5 at 10AM.

Lee Brotherton

Lee Brotherton was born in the Midwest, as the only child of a very mobile family. Art soon became her constant companion. Lee’s early interest in art and the encouragement of her high school art teacher led her to study Fine Arts in college. A Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (ceramics) was followed by a degree in Art Education.

Lee’s fine arts career included serving as an elementary art teacher, art museum work, art gallery manager and sales consultant. During this time, she constantly dreamt of being a full-time artist. In her free time she continued to work in the arts, especially with clay.

The southwest had called to Lee and became her home. In 1995, she met Bill Freeman, a painter and sculptor living in Scottsdale, AZ and Jackson Hole, WY. Bill shared with Lee his interest and knowledge of the pottery of the ancient and turn-of-century Native American Indians. She soon caught the “pottery fever.” Lee learned how to restore ancient pottery and to make replicas or “re-creations” of this beautiful pottery.

Within a few years of working and selling her pottery re-creations, Lee began experimenting with embedding fossils into her clay medium. Inspired by the fossils and other natural artifacts, Lee created her own designs to compliment the found treasure. One simple ammonite wall sculpture then led to the creation of a grouping of pieces that related to one another. Vessels, bowls and other shapes are often shaped by finding a special piece of driftwood, shell or plant life.

Her sculptures may be seen in galleries and in her studio in Cave Creek, AZ. Collectors of her work include private individuals, companies and museums throughout the world.

Melissa Barry

“Each painting in this series combines aesthetic influences and images from two countries having personal meaning: Asia and the United States. I am interested in how multiple landscapes, with shifting scale and color, can simultaneously confuse the eye while soothing the soul. Using a SLR digital camera to photograph landscapes, I alter the computer image, manipulating color and scale. Projected images are painted onto a rectilinear landscape canvas and painted in a photo-realistic style, referencing order and tradition.

Grounded by process but guided by intuition, I juxtapose fragmented images and distort scale suggesting a chaotic world in constant flux. Abstracted passages symbolize fog, time of day, or mood. Seeking to meet my personal criteria for a successful painting, I ask “does the work evoke solitude, serenity, and a reverence for the wilderness in its primal state? Do the fragmented images and distorted scale conjure questions of reality?” If successful, the painting gives a feeling of walking through a landscape, stopping to observe at different locations which are seen at different times under differing weather conditions, or through a scrim of memory. It seeks to suggest a unique world of its own, a fragmented “reality”, sense, but ultimately unknowable.

Living in Japan for several years in my youth, Asian art and philosophy were significant influences which continue to inform my work today. I am a fulltime working artist and have maintained a home and studio in Florida since 1977 and since 1994 a summer studio in upstate New York. I served as adjunct art professor at Florida’s Edison State College from 1979-1986 and was a resident artist at Vermont Studio Center, 1989-91, studying with former asst. director James Gahagan, Hans Hofmann School. While I continue to explore the field of art through research and travel, I am most interested in developing ideas and concepts in my studio through intense personal investigation and experimentation.”

Melissa Barry and Lee Brotherton’s joint exhibit will open with a public reception on Friday, March 4 at 5PM at the Alliance. The artists will lead a Gallery Walk & Talk on Saturday, March 5 at 10AM. The exhibit remains on display through March 31.

Illustrations by Fort Myers artist Jason McDonald will be featured in the Member Gallery. McDonald deliberately manipulates the dichotomy between simple drawings with complex ideas. His artwork creates a visual layering that, upon closer inspection, appears interwoven like a rich and fine tapestry. Works by BJR, Brown, Hernandez, & Longoria will be featured in the Foulds Theatre Lobby.

Join Alliance for the Arts and The Resolvers for the next 2016 Bruce T. Gora Sunset Concert on Sunday, March 20 at 5 PM. Now in its 6^th year, the concert series honors the memory and many community contributions of musician, photographer, architect and longtime Alliance board member and supporter Bruce Gora.

Guests are encouraged to picnic on the lawn with coolers, blankets, and lawn chairs as they soak up great live music. Bring your own beverages and food and join your neighbors to enjoy a sunset on the lawn. Let us host your Sunday evening!

Emerging from the vibrant beach town of Deerfield Beach, The Resolvers have quickly become the Premier Alt. Reggae Act of the South Florida Music Scene. They capture the essence of the Classic Reggae Sound: natural acoustic percussion, deep bass grooves, worldly drum rhythms, tasty vintage keyboards, bluesy guitar licks and multi-part vocal harmonies…then blend it with modern songwriting craftsmanship to create their own familiar-yet-purely-original take on World Music.

Each of the individuals in the Resolvers contributes to a greater sum. Brother and sister Ojay & Sahara Smith are the vocal engines of the band with Reggae Music flowing through their veins. They are the siblings Jamaican Singer/Songwriter – Ernie Smith. Dean Fishback – seen as a mentor of the band, is a veteran keyboards master in the reggae scene and is highly sought-after by reggae stars touring the area, including Inner Circle, Sugar Minot, and Mikey Dread. Ron Eisner (Guitars) is a prolific songwriter of Israeli up-bringing who runs the behind-the-scenes operation. Steave Nieratka puts his mad-scientist persona into his Bass lines to create sophisticated outer-galactic grooves. Nate Largent is a modern-day shaman with a drumming range as wide as the cultural pallet of our world. The bonding elements that hold it all together comprise of a passion for “back-to-the-basics” approach to the creation of great music, an urge to spread an honest and positive message, and a belief that every single person on earth should be free to pursue his/her dreams.

Gates open at 4PM and the concerts begin at 5PM. General admission tickets are $20. Pre-sale tickets are $15 for Alliance Members, and are available HERE. Proceeds from the concert series will benefit Alliance education and outreach programs. The 2016 Bruce T. Gora Sunset Concerts are sponsored in part by LCEC and Bon Soiree.