The Fort Myers Dowtown Rotary is assising with parking as they did last year.  Avoid the Fuss Ride the Buss.

Park you cars downtown across from  Fist Watch in the old Boulevard Plaza.   There are buses every 15 minutes running downtown.

Thanks

ArtFest Fort Myers, Southwest Florida’s premier art festival takes place downtown Fort Myers on February 4 & 5, 2012 from 10 to 5 each day. Each year Fort Myers’ only free, two day art extravaganza, decorates our downtown with exceptional artwork, entertainment and children’s art activities.

Attendees enjoy and purchase artwork in a variety of mediums and prices from nationally recognized artists from across the country and around the world.

Its better than a gallery – there is lots of variety – you can talk to the artists – you can view the work of over 200 fine artists in a single weekend – you can introduce your children to the magic of original art.

Enjoy this amazing opportunity to see some of the most creative and exciting artwork to be exhibited anywhere in Florida this season.

ArtFest Fort Myers artists are rarely seen at other local art festivals. Their work is refreshing and new. It’s a perfect time to find that one of a kind piece for your home or collection!

Screaming Orphans take the Stage for a benefit concert for the Chidrens Hospital of SW FLThe doors open at 6:00pm   Thanks to our sponsors,  Henderson Franklin, NBC-2 , Pamela Templeton,Riverside Realty Group, Staging Matters, Presitge,and Holly Originals and Florida Weekly.

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: Michael Cavanaugh & the Edison pops Orchestra

Michael is the pianist / singer who was hand-picked by Billy Joel to open his Broadway musical Movin’ Out. Returning to the Edison stage, Michael will perform his newest show: “The Songs of Elton John, Billy Joel and More!”

Saturday, October 22, 2011
Purchase Tickets Online Now!

Gates open at 5pm | Concert begins at 7pm
Reserved Table Seating: $40 per person or
$400 per table of 10
General Admission: $20 in advance; $25 at gate

My good friend Lydia Black says there is lot to do for the whole family.  Eventsfortmyers.com will be there to cover the great day.

Come sample the many ways you can get involved and experience the arts in Southwest Florida! Watch area performing groups sing, dance, play instruments and act in mini-performances on the open air amphitheater stage. Witness creativity unfolding before your eyes as local visual artists demonstrate their talents in painting, drawing, sculpting and mixed media demonstrations.

Cultural Organizations

Art League of Fort Myers * Art Poems * ArtFest Fort Myers * Artful Missions * Arts For Act * Broadway Palm Dinner Theater * Calusa Carvers * Cape Coral Art Studio * Cultural Park Theater * Cute as a Button Creations * Florida Repertory Theatre * Gulf Coast Symphony * Gulf Coast Writers Association * Imaginarium Science Center * Laurel Fine Arts Foundation * LMHS Arts in Healthcare * Music Together * Nerveana Medical * Pan American Alliance * Pushing Daisies * Signature Chamber Concerts * Southwest Florida Symphony * Southwest Florida Craft Guild * Southwest Florida Historical Society * Southwest Florida Symphony * Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center * Symphonic Chorale of Southwest Florida * Tracy Theriault Designs * Weavers of Char-Lee * WGCU Public Media

Artists & Authors

Andrea Trank * Be the Breath * Bill North * Bruce Wm. Walsh * David Hammell * Dominick Bello * Doug MacGregor * Geoff Coe * Pamela Cupp * Terry Lynn Spry * The Tube Dude

Performers

Creative Theater Workshop * Dance Alliance * Dance Warehouse * Jeanne Bochette/Gulf Coast Dance * Flutist Kat Epple * Kellyn Celtic Arts Irish Dance Academy * Noah Waddell * North Fort Myers Academy for the ArtsSW Florida Fencing Academy * Young Artists Awards

Performance schedule:

10:25     Creative Theater Workshop – Preview of the musical comedy “Dear Edwina”

10:50     Kellyn Celtic Arts Irish Dance Academy – Irish and Highland dances

11:25     Dance Warehouse – Competitive dance — lyrical, hiphop, jazz, musical theater (ages 4-16)

11:50     Gulfcoast Dance

12:15     Young Artists Awards – Award-winning vocalist Sam Bostic

12:40     Oficina da Capoeira – Brazilian artform combining elements of martial arts/dance

1:05        N Fort Myers Academy – Perform jazz, pompon, lyrical dances with dramatic scenes

1:30        Noah Waddell – 10-year-old Noah will perform classic piano scores of major composers

1:55        Dance Alliance – Perform “Monster Mash” with interactive audience participation

2:20        S.W. Florida Fencing Academy – The art and science of modern fencing

Special appearences by: Chick-Fil-A * Florida Virtual School * Lee County Library System BookMobile * Fort Myers Fire Department * Shy Wolf Sanctuary

Kids can win a free week of summer camp by creating their own piece of “fall-themed art” by downloading this form and bringing it to the festival on October, 22nd.

Cultivating Carrots and Peace in Your Garden

Cheryl Wilfong, author of The Meditative Gardener: Cultivating Mindfulness of Body, Feelings, and Mind, will visit Fort Myers as part of the week long Living MindFULLy Festival.  On Friday, September 23 at 7 p.m., Cheryl will be at the Eco Center at Rutenberg Park to read from and discuss her book.

In her wise, down-to-earth book, the Vermont Master Gardener and mindfulness meditation teacher offers a rich bouquet of meditations. Her gentle, friendly, and humorous tone creates a nurturing environment in which to practice mindfulness in our very own gardens. Wilfong invites us to stroll beside our flowerbeds, appreciating them just as they are, and noticing the joy they bring us. We may not have done all the weeding or planting we had hoped, but appreciate that we are doing the best we can.

The Meditative Gardener nourishes the seed of enlightenment that is already growing in your heart. Use the tools of mindfulness and kindness to discover how to cultivate your garden and your meditation practice at the same time. Other spiritual gardening books tell us how to create a tranquil garden. The Meditative Gardener supports us in simply finding tranquility in the garden beside the front door. Instead of being a busy bee, simply be.

LivingMindFULLY project partners include: Lee County Parks & Recreation, Hearts’ Path to Mindful Living, Integrative Mindfulness, HD PR Group, Renaissance School, Lee County Alliance for the Arts, SW FL Naturally, and Cypress Cove Retirement Community.  Proceeds from this event will benefit the 501(c)3 on-profit organization, Hearts’ Path to Mindful Living.  This group’s mission is to promote supportive, life-affirming mindfulness-based programs teaching powerful methods for reducing stress, contributing to health and well-being. 

Walk Flyer 9 5 2011

Artist Eve Lynch of Kraken Mosaics recently completed the installation of a large mosaic mural to support the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium, 

The public art installation, dubbed The Butterfly Project, features a 3foot long glass mosaic alligator and over 150 unique mosaic butterflies that were donated by 90 artists. The collaborative project, organized by Lynch in July of 2011, includes artwork from Russia, Cyprus, The Netherlands and Australia, among other places.

Lynch believes in the transformative power of art. The mural was originally created to re-energize the outdoor space under the nature center’s museum but the project quickly became a vehicle to support the center‘s programs and revitalize the facility. “I wanted to add public art to the list of attractions that the Calusa Nature Center offers the community”, she said, “but once I started putting the butterflies onto the wall, I realized that visitors were interested in becoming part of the project. That’s when I partnered with the Calusa Nature Center and created the Buy-a-Butterfly program.”

Through the Buy-a-Butterfly Program, visitors can purchase a commemorative mosaic butterfly in honor of a loved one for $100. Artist Eve Lynch then hand cuts the glass and creates the mosaic that ultimately ends up on the wall as a permanent part of the art installation. 50% of the proceeds are donated back to the Calusa Nature Center to help the non-profit continue to provide programming to the community.

Volunteer Mariah Brooks, who purchased the program’s first commemorative butterfly, did so to memorialize her friend that had recently passed away from cancer. “I had wanted to do something for her but nothing felt right until I heard about the butterflies”, she said. “This way she’ll be around all the animals at Calusa Nature Center.”

For more information on the Buy-a-Butterfly program or to purchase a butterfly, please visit The Butterfly Project website, http://butterfly-project.blogspot.com/p/buy-butterfly.html You can also call or visit the Calusa Nature Center at 3450 Ortiz Ave., Fort Myers, FL 33905 | (239) 275-3435 or contact artist Eve Lynch at krakenmosaics@gmail.com

About the Artist

Fort Myers based artist Eve Lynch works in many mediums but is currently focusing on glass mosaic. Her work has been featured in exhibits throughout Southwest Florida and in California and the United Kingdom. The Butterfly Project is her second donated art installation in Fort Myers. Her first, The Messina Mural Project, is a permanent outdoor art gallery at the J.H. Messina Children’s Center on Fowler Street in Fort Myers. You can purchase work directly from the artist at http://krakenmosaics.com

Unfair: the art of Alex Heria

Opening Reception September 2, 2011 6:00pm-10:00pm

World renowned photographer Alex Heria presents his Unfair collection at daas Gallery during the month of September. The exhibition opens to the public during the monthly Fort Myers Art Walk.

Alexander Heria was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1961. He moved to Miami, Florida at age ten. Heria received a BFA in photography from Florida International University, Miami in 1992, and his MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston in 1994. He has taught photography and graphic design for seven years at FIU, Miami Dade College, and the Art Institute Miami. His photography has been exhibited locally and is in numerous private collections. Currently he is an artist-in-residence at the ArtCenter/South Florida.

“My work has always been a search of a place and a clan I could call my own. Born in New Jersey to Cuban immigrant parents, I am part of a subculture known as Cubichis. Subsequently, I belong to two worlds while being truly integrated to neither. Whether it’s portraits of family and friends or gardens on the roadsides or the personal vision of trees as atmospheric phenomena, there’s a seeking-to-feel-right-and-whole with the subject at a deeply personal level. I enjoy the medium of photography for this quest; it has an uncanny ability to record faithfully the scene depicted while creating surprising new relationships simultaneously. It is the learning and exploring through surprise that interests me most as an artist.”

The exhibition will be on display through Friday, September 30th. For more information about the event, please visit www.daasgallery.com. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

News Flash about Daas Gallery owner

Also The owner and Good Friend David Acevedo has been commissioned to paint a mural upstairs in the Sky Bar area .   David has helped out on many different projects including paint the downtown purple with his Relay for Life window painting at Starbucks as well as MDA.

Fort Myers artist, Lia Galletti, will display her abstract collection “Reflections On Canvas” at the Alliance for the Arts, September 9th through October 1st, 2011. Art enthusiasts are invited to the free opening reception on September 9th from 5:00 to 7:30pm.

Born in Cuba, Galletti moved to New York with her family in 1960. She moved to Miami in 1970, where she worked as a graphic designer and founded her own printmaking workshop and art studio. In 2004, she joined the Fort Myers community and opened her own studio where she continues to create abstract pieces for shows around Florida and beyond. Galletti’s work has been showcased in Miami, Washington D.C., Boston and multiple international locations.

Galletti says her abstract collection, “Reflections on Canvas,” has evolved through experimentation with different mediums. She’s explored printmaking, linocuts and silkscreen. She’s also experimented with different painting media to achieve the graphic impression of printmaking and developed her own water-resist technique, using water under pressure to create surfaces, textures and lines similar to those of an etching. She used acrylic for her collection, “Reflections on Canvas,” and describes the work as, “an expression of an inner journey in which I explore the primal and simple language of the soul through abstract forms, their only representational role being to bring forth the true colors of our feeling and emotions at their purest.” Galletti’s work will be on display for viewing at the Alliance from September 9th through October 1st, 2011.

Galletti’s pieces will be available for purchase. For more information about her artwork or the exhibit contact the Alliance at (239) 939-2787 or e-mail exhibitions@artinlee.org. Alliance member Harriet Williams will be exhibiting in the Member Gallery during Galletti’s show.