The Rotary Club of Fort Myers brings  The Screaming Orphans back for an outdoor concert on Feb. 23 at the Alliance for the Arts, 10091 McGregor Blvd. Fort Myers, FL 33919. Comprised of four sisters from Ireland, The Screaming Orphans are known for their high-energy music that blends pop rock with traditional Irish music. The concert benefits the Rotary Trust Club of Fort Myers and offers a night of music, food and a good cause.

Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and the music kicks off with MacGilliossa at 6 p.m. The Screaming Orphans take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Food trucks and beverage station will be available to offer a variety of food, wine and beer for purchase. Blankets and lawn chairs are encouraged, but coolers will not permitted.

Attendees can save big with $25 presale tickets, which can be purchased online at ArtInLee.org/Orphans or by calling 239-939-2787. Tickets purchased at the gate are $35. Kids under 12 are free with an adult.

The concert is presented in partnership with The Rotary Club of Fort Myers and sponsored by The Dorcey Law Firm.

The Alliance for the Arts’ January exhibit, Magnetism, features award-winning artists Ken Hoffman and Alexander Martin. The show runs from Jan. 11 through Feb. 2 at the Alliance for the Arts, 10091 McGregor Blvd. Fort Myers, FL 33919 and explores themes such as identity, connection and pressures of society.

Ken Hoffman’s anthropomorphic paintings reveal the closeness between people and animals, and speak to our society’s political and cultural scene. These provoking paintings pair well with the unexpected abstractions that Alexander Martin showcases with his Boys Will Be Boys series.

By addressing human roles of identity through these unusual outlets of color and mixed media, both Hoffman and Martin express an emerging sense of our unexpected realities that will draw you in like a magnet. Engage in the provocative wonderland that interconnects animals and abstractions of found objects to reveal the dynamism and whimsy of our society through paintings, installations and more.

The opening reception will be held on Jan. 11 from 5 – 7 p.m. and is open to the public. A conversational walk and talk with the exhibiting artists will be held on Jan. 12 at 10 a.m. during Alliance for the Arts Weekly GreenMarket. Admission to the gallery is free and open to the public, but a $5 suggested donation helps keep arts programming accessible.

The Alliance for the Arts is seeking Florida artists to submit their work to the Annual All Florida Juried Exhibit. This award-winning show is the Alliance’s longest running exhibition and features pieces created by artists working in a wide variety of media from all over the state of Florida.

This year’s juror is Lynn Whitelaw, the founding Director and Curator of the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, located on the Tarpon Springs Campus of St. Petersburg College. Whitelaw’s curatorial efforts have resulted in over one hundred and forty exhibitions shown at Hillsborough Community College, the Tampa Museum of Art and the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art.

The opening reception will be March 8 from 5 – 7 p.m. The juror will be on hand to present awards including $1,000 cash for Best In Show, a 2nd Place gift certificate, $100 cash for 3rd place and Jurors Choice Award(s) of Alliance for the Arts membership(s).

Categories for entry are sculpture, painting (including oil, acrylic, collage, water color and mixed media), photography, prints and drawing.  An entry may consist of 1 to 3 artworks. All entries must be submitted online no later than Jan. 28, 2019. Artists can download the prospectus and submit their work online at ArtInLee.org/AllFlorida2019.

A conversational walk and talk through the gallery with the artists and juror will be held on March 9 at 10 a.m. during the Alliance GreenMarket. Receptions and talks are open to the public and do not require tickets or reservations. While gallery admission is free, a $5 suggested donation keeps Alliance programming affordable and accessible. The show closes on March 30, 2019.

The exhibition is kindly sponsored by Elemental Stone and Waterworks.

For more information, call 239-939-2787 or visit www.ArtInLee.org/AllFlorida2019.

The Alliance for the Arts is excited to announce the start of its multiphase campus enchainment project planned for the 2.2 acres along McGregor Blvd. The first phase of this project comes in partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation: an installation of an 8 foot sidewalk, new crosswalks and lighting along the McGregor Blvd. edge of the campus.

“The reimagination of the western edge of our campus goes hand in hand with our rapid growth over the last decade. More than a place to play, we see a community hub for discovery and creativity, education and adventure; a place where people, art and imagination meet,” says executive director Lydia Black. “We’re creating a front door for our friends and neighbors to bike, walk and stroll to join us at the Alliance. These updates will help make our community more walkable, livable and accessible.”

Following the completion of the sidewalk installation, the Alliance and its project partners will begin on the campus centerpiece, the Caloosahatchee Water Wall by internationally acclaimed artist Michael Singer. In addition to being an aesthetic and educational piece, the Caloosahatchee Water Wall is designed to be a storm water run-off filter, using aeration and aquatic vegetation at its base to filter water in the retention basin. Water is pumped up from the retention basin; the water trickles down the trellis and into the regeneration zone. The filtered water re-enters the basin and eventually makes its way out to the Caloosahatchee.

Funding for this project has been made possible by The City of Fort Myers, EnSite, Frizzell Family Foundation, Keep Lee County Beautiful, L.A.T. Foundation, The Price Foundation, LCEC, National Endowment of the Arts, Price Foundation, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Rotary Club of Fort Myers South, TriCircle Pavers and a host of Alliance donors and members.

For more information, visit ArtInLee.org/WaterWall 

The Alliance for the Arts presents Arts & End Holiday Sale on Saturday, Nov. 10 from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. at the Alliance campus at 10091 McGregor Blvd. Fort Myers, FL 33919. Coinciding with the onset of the holiday shopping season, this event encourages purchasers to consider buying local art when shopping for gifts. The art sale will also feature activities throughout the day, including a interactive art projects, artist demos, and more.

Local artists will present and sell hand-crafted items in a wide variety of mediums and styles in the Alliance gallery.

Featured artists include: Alexandra Jaramillo, Alicia Schmidt, Dana JamJoum, Jayne Baker, Laura Moynahan, Marta Sicajan, MiMi Stirn, Susan Mills, Cicero McCarter, Pamela Volz, and Union Artist Studios.

Arts & Ends Holiday Sale takes place during the Off the Wall Exhibit: 200 Pieces Under $200. This non-traditional art show features works of all mediums priced at $200 or less. All sales are “cash and carry,” meaning purchasers will get to take the piece with them when they buy it, instead of waiting until the end of the exhibit. The exhibit runs through Dec. 29. Guests can also shop works from over 75 local and regional artists in the gift shop.

“We hope that this event and exhibit inspires shoppers to consider buying from local artists this season,” said Krista Johnson, exhibitions coordinator at the Alliance for the Arts. “Purchasing local art is a gift that gives back to a thriving creative economy.”