On Wednesday Events Fort Myers was invited to the Arts Center to hear about the Pepsi Refresh Grant .   The Director Jim Griffith and his staff informed the local media   Mayor Randy Henderson , Forest Banks and Latasha Armstead   of the plan of getting the Grant of $250.000,000  from Pepsi Cola with the help of all .    The funds will be able to help Restore  the second floor and create classrooms for Education for the Arts.  Berne Davis herself has generously donated funds to restore the Elevator from 1936 .   This elevator will take the Art Patrons to the 2nd and 3rd floors.    Where you will find A beautiful Sculpture Garden on the roof of the 2nd tier and on the primary roof of the building a sky bar and entertaining area.

These things will add so much to the Arts Center .   But, first things are first let us all get behind the Pepsi Grant so we can restore the Education Class rooms and lend a helping hand to the arts.  ( One catch you need to be 14 years old to do this)

Please pass this on to all your friends .  You can vote once a day to help with the Arts

Below our photos from that day and the areas that will be restored and Future Projects.

The 1^st Annual Labor Day Spirits and Spokes Tour will be taking place Sunday, September 5, 3p- 8p.  This is an informal fundraiser, with the organizers donating the proceeds to the United Way.  This is NOT an organized, certified, or sanctioned event by the United Way or any other cycling club, but rather a group of people that want to support the businesses downtown and give any proceeds to a local charity!

You can join the Facebook page (search by event title) but here is the low-down:

1.       If you ride your bicycle and wear a helmet, a $20 donation gets you a wristband.

2.       If you ride with no helmet or walk it, a $25 donation gets you a wristband.

3.       A 50/50 will take place.

4.       Other raffle prizes to include gift certificates from the bars and restaurants plus a night at Hotel Indigo will be raffled off.

5.       Contest for best decorated helmet.

6.       Transportation alternatives will be suggested (cabs, etc.).

7.       Hotel Indigo is offering their $99 room rate for all participants.

8.       An indoor, secure location will be offered for participants to keep their bikes if they wish to do so (assuming folks will be calling for rides, taking a cab, or staying the night!).

9.       All paid participants will receive specials from participating businesses (appetizers, drink specials, etc. )

10.   If you are interested in participating, join the Facebook page and/or email spiritsandspokes@comcast.net as the group would like to let the businesses know, best estimate, how many folks will be participating.  (and t-shirts may or may not be ordered for the event!).

11.   Look for Dan Moser’s reference in the Florida Weekly this week and rumor has it, the News-press may do a small story as well!

Forrest is a good friend of the family so when ever he has something to share about Fort Myers we listen

At our first campaign meeting last year we put investigating the dips and bumps on McGregor Blvd

At our first campaign meeting last year we put investigating the dips and bumps on McGregor Blvd. on our list of things to get done. The depressions are caused by sand leaking into holes or cracks in the underground storm sewer. I brought the problem up early on to the City Manager. Saeed Kazemi, our Public Works Director had his ideas and spent some time looking into the problem. Now the City has hired Barraco and Associates to video the storm sewers to determine where the leaks are, how bad they are and what is causing them. It is one of those puzzles you cannot solve until you get close to it. It could be bad construction, bad pipe or other utilities cutting it. The storm sewers are a PVC product and unlike concrete they can be cut without the party cutting them knowing. Whatever the problem, we will ask the responsible party to fix them.

 Thanks Forrest

Fun-Tasy: The Art of Fernando Soler

All is color and whimsy at daas Gallery during the month of August. Cuban artist, Fernando Soler presents Fun-Tasy, a collection of new works inspired in a life full of fun and adventure. The opening reception is scheduled for Friday, August 6, 2010 in conjunction with the Fort Myers Art Walk.

Fernando was born in Havana Cuba in 1947.  At the age of nine, he and his family migrated to Key West where he went to school and graduated from Key West High School.  After a year of junior college, he proudly enlisted in the United States Coast Guard.  After a four-year tour in the North Atlantic and Governor’s Island New York, he moved to Sarasota where he attended Ringling School of Art in the early seventies and remained working as a graphic artist and sign artisan. In the late eighties, he moved back to Key West to help with the family property and became active in the local art scene. In the early nineties, he moved back to Sarasota the do his graphic and fine art again. These days he’s semi retired and working diligently to make the transition to be a full time fine artist, which is his life’s dream. Fernando has shown his work in-group and solo exhibitions in Staten Island New York, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Key West.

“Growing up on the island of Key West in the sixties was truly paradise. We lived a very simple life full of fun and adventure. Everyone knew each other on the island and music and laughter was commonplace. The ocean and nature was evident everywhere our bicycles would take us. My art is a mixture of family, friends, fun, nature and the ability to see beauty in the simple things that make up every precious day of my life on this beautiful planet”, says Soler.

The exhibition will be on display until August 28, 2010. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00am to 3:00pm. More information is available at www.daasgallery.com.

Venue: daas Gallery

1512 Broadway St.

Fort Myers, FL 33901

239-939-1194

info@daasgallery.com

www.daasgallery.com

HOWL Gallery presents the all-female comic art collaborative known as the SUGAR NINJAS. Created and published by Bob Pendarvis, the SUGAR NINJAS are a diverse group of talented women artists and storytellers. A former professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Bob Pendarvis taught the school’s first comics art class and went on to create and co-found the their Sequential Art BFA and MFA degree programs. He is assisted by Emma Ravenel and Gally Articola in producing the two book anthology which showcases the collective’s works. The two books vary greatly in content, with SUGAR NINJAS: SWEET featuring works that are cute and suitable for all ages, while SUGAR NINJAS: SPICY includes edgy and adult subject matter.

The comics industry has historically been a male-dominated field and the SUGAR NINJAS strive to promote the often overlooked and underestimated female talent currently producing creative works.

The exhibition highlights a selection of artwork produced by over two dozen of the SUGAR NINJAS, including comic book pages, comic strips, Dollfie photo comics, picture book illustrations, and more. Some of the artists appearing in the anthology currently work for companies such as Tokyo Pop and Marvel Comics. Volume 2 of SUGAR NINJAS featuring all new work in the Sweet and Spicy two book format is currently being printed and is set to DEBUT at HOWL during the reception.  The show will also feature a sneak peek at Bob’s upcoming graphic novel, A GIRL CALLED ANA TEACHES KITTENS HOW TO DRAW.

An Opening Reception will be held on Friday, August 6th, in conjunction with Fort Myers Art Walk from 6-10pm. Light refreshments provided. Exhibit continues through August 31st.

Fort Myers, July 15, 2010 – “Piece by Piece” the stained glass art of John Coleman, presented by the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center, showcases the stained glass creations of John Coleman. The show opens on August 6 from 6:00pm to 10:00pm during the Downtown Fort Myers Art Walk. The Laboratory Theatre of Florida will also present the one-act play “Anywhere but Here.”

John Charles Coleman and his brother Robert have practiced law in Fort Myers for the last 30 years.  John has worked with stained glass for over twenty-five years.  He was introduced to stained glass by his wife Patsy, who has helped him learn all facets of the art — windows, mosaics, fusing. Patsy has created an “oasis of peace” from which springs inspiration, innovation, and imagination.

 John’s stained glass art includes windows, paintings – floral, landscape, and abstract, many in a diamond shape – and a wide variety of vases.  Each painting, from the “canvas” to the completed frame, is the original work of John Charles Coleman.

In “Anywhere but Here” two very dissimilar runaways, a teen and a street-wise 70 year old, meet in bus station, in this prize winning and charming one act comedy. Show-times are 7:00pm and 8:30pm.

After 10:00pm the festivities continue in the Grand Atrium with Art After Hours. There will be a cash bar and pizza provided Downtown House of Pizza.

For additional venue and exhibit information, please contact SBDAC at 239.333.1933 or info@fl-arts.org.

Premiering August 21, Music Walk is the new and exciting downtown Fort Myers event brought by the creators and promoters of the Fort Myers Art Walk. The event will follow the model of Art Walk, but with a focus on music and performing arts. More than 40 downtown Fort Myers’ venues will feature some sort of a musical/artistic performance the third Saturday of every month beginning in August.

The daas Gallery will be presenting an intimate and very different performance in conjunction with the Music Walk. “Since we are not a big and spacious venue, we are limiting the amount of people we can have in our space with the performer. This way, the show will be very exclusive and intimate”, explains co-owner Xavier Brignoni. “We will follow the same uniqueness that characterizes our gallery for these performances and I am sure people will enjoy them as much as our exhibitions.”

Opening this event will be the great Peter Taylor; a guitar virtuoso and accomplished musician who has collaborated with local and international artists. His performances will begin at 7:00 pm on Saturday August 21. His 45 minute set, titled “Single Minded”, is an ethereal and beautiful mix of emotional and heartfelt songs in voice and guitar that will captivate the audience.

The owners of daas Gallery invite Music Walk visitors to call 239-939-1194 and reserve a space, which is very limited. There will be no access inside the gallery once the performance has begun. For more information about Peter Taylor or daas Gallery, please call 239-939-1194. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

- Stephen Salts, baritone, currently studies at The Florida State University College of Music and will graduate with a Bachelor of Music degree (voice performance) this May (2011).  From there, he hopes to move back to south Florida and obtain a Master of Music degree in voice performance and/or opera studies.
Stephen has performed with the Florida State Opera since 2007 in La Bohème (Puccini), The Mikado (Gilbert & Sullivan), La Clemenza di TitoThe Impressario (Mozart), and played the role of Fiorello in The Barber of Seville (Rossini).
He also performs with the Florida State Baroque Ensemble in addition to the Florida State University Singers with whom he traveled Rome, Siena, Florence, Venice, and Milan this past March.

- Ronald Doiron, D.M.A., is the Artistic Director and Conductor of The Bach Ensemble, and the Director of Music, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Marco Island, Florida. Dr. Doiron will accompany the vocalists. Since July 2003 Ronald Doiron has been at the musical helm as Artistic Director and Conductor of The Bach Ensemble. A church and synagogue musician for over 30 years, Dr. Doiron has held important positions as both organist and choirmaster in Southern California and Pennsylvania, including Director of Music at Temple Sinai, Director of Music Ministries at the First Presbyterian Church and Church of the Assumption in Pittsburgh,

Suggested Donation: $10.