Visual and performing arts and events in the news in December, 2024

This is who and what’s creating news in Southwest Florida’s visual and performing arts community during the month of December, 2024:

1     ART NEWS AND EXHIBITIONS

Outgoing director Molly Rowan-Deckart says Alliance for the Arts has bright future

Molly Rowan-Deckart accomplished a great deal during her four-year tenure as the Executive Director of the Alliance for the Arts. But she would have likely accomplished so much more had it not been for a worldwide pandemic, three hurricanes (Ian, Helene and Milton) and Governor Ron DeSantis’ veto of art funding statewide. While Rowan-Deckart may have set the table, now it’s up to her successor to make sure the Alliance for the Arts serves up a bountiful feast. Read more about Molly’s parting thoughts here on WGCU.

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On view through December 12, Bradford Hermann solo show at Arts Bonita features found and recycled materials

The main gallery at the Arts Bonita Visual Art Center is hosting a solo show of 34 multi-dimensional mixed media works by local artist Hermann Bradford now through December 12.

“It is a feast for the eyes,” says curator Danielle Branchaud. “His work is provocative and fun, and it was just really well received at the opening reception.”

Hermann is not just a masterful painter. He’s a master craftsman, often incorporating a surprising combination of found and recycled materials into constructions on canvas, Masonite and plywood.

Read the full story on WGCU.

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Voters give go-ahead for Fort Myers to add and connect parks and green space

Thanks to approval of a $75 million bond referendum on last Tuesday’s ballot, Fort Myers is about to upgrade existing parks and recreational facilities and acquire vacant land for new parks and green spaces. There’s more involved in just upgrading and adding new parks and green spaces. The city’s recently adopted master plan places importance on connecting new and existing parks and green space to one another. “Connecting all the parks so that it’s one system as opposed to just parks all over the place, clusters you know,” said Hicks. “We want to really just connect everything and everything to be intertwined so that everybody can enjoy everything.” Read the full story on WGCU.

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Naples Art Institute’s ‘Adventure in the Arts’ features Pollock, Rauschenberg, Johns and more through January 5

An Adventure In The Arts: The Guild Hall Collection opens November 9 at the Naples Art Institute. It contains 72 works by 59 artists, including George Bellows, Lynda Benglis, Chuck Close, Jane Freilicher, Adolph Gottlieb, Jasper Johns, Thomas Moran, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock and Robert Rauschenberg. Their work spans the period beginning 1878 and concluding in 1994. For more on the show, visit WGCU.org.

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Tomaso Albertini creating dynamic art in studio at Naples Art Institute

Tomaso Albertini is creating dynamic three-dimensional art at Naples Art Institute. In the realm of art, Albertini’s process, medium and compositions are unique. They had to be in order to stand out among the competition in New York City, where he launched his career in 2015. Read the story on WGCU.

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Three floors of contemporary art greet Sarasota museum guests

Sarasota Art Museum has no permanent collection. Instead, it stages rotating exhibitions of transformative, relevant and pioneering artists in an ongoing effort to facilitate the appreciation and understanding of the art of our times. While the art on display changes, the museum’s point of entry remains constant, and that’s where visitors discover the intriguing “28 Colors of Sarasota” mural. Read or listen to the full story on WGCU.

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Sarasota Art Museum’s ‘Contemplating Vermeer’ exhibit runs through April 13, 2025

The Sarasota Art Museum’s exhibition of miniature paintings titled “Contemplating Vermeer” will really blow people’s minds. At least that’s what  SAM Executive Director Virginia Shearer thinks. From the easel of Joe Fig, the works in the exhibition depict people looking at the Vermeers on the walls of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 2023 during its monumental exhibition of Johannes Vermeer’s masterpieces. Drawing on his own visit to this historic show, Fig created 16 paintings that not only pay homage to the 17th century painter’s mastery of light, color, and verisimilitude, but reflect on the aesthetic experience in the Rijksmuseum’s galleries. Read the full story on WGCU.

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2     THEATER

Ghostbird returns to Koreshan State Park with ‘Toad Frog’ December 6-8

Ghostbird Theatre Company returns to Koreshan State Park December 6-8. On those dates, Ghostbird will tell frog stories under the canopy of a giant oak nestled near a fancy bridge behind the bakery of the old Koreshan village where children once dressed as bumble bees and strange flowers, while parents dreamed of living inside a sphere of forever happiness. Toad Frog is a collection of songs, a poem or two and an illustrated story, told in the natural world we share with creatures we often hear but rarely notice.

Bring your own chair or blanket and join us under the tree. Written by James Brock, Barry Cavin and Katelyn Gravel, this poem-play-song for grown-ups features Alexandra Adams, Tatum Bates, Amanda Collins, Katelyn Gravel and Adrianna Martinez. Barry Cavin also directs.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chair or blanket and wear comfortable shoes and clothing appropriate for the outdoors. The show is free and begins at 7:30 p.m., weather permitting. There is an entrance charge for the state park of $5.00 for cars with 2-8 individuals and $4.00 for cars with 1 individual. The production is suitable for audiences 16 and older.

Ghostbird Theatre Company remains the only theatre company in the American South devoted to site-specific productions.

3     MUSIC

Opera Naples and Luciano Pavarotti Foundation expand collaboration

A couple of years ago, some influential boosters began exploring the idea of building an opera house in Naples. An integral component of the project, called Theater in the Garden, is a museum dedicated to the artistry of Luciano Pavarotti. Rather than wait for the opera house and museum to be built, Opera Naples and the late tenor’s wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, decided to begin working together immediately. This season, Opera Naples and the Pavarotti Foundation are expanding their affiliation in two important ways. Read the story on WGCU.