Visual and performing artists and events in the news in January, 2025

This is who and what’s creating news in Southwest Florida’s visual and performing arts community during the month of January, 2025:

1     ART NEWS AND EXHIBITIONS

Baker Museum collaborates with Pelican Bay Foundation on outdoor sculpture trail

Long before patrons step inside Naples’ Baker Museum of Art, they’re treated to nearly a dozen magnificent works of art, free of charge. In furtherance of its commitment to outdoor sculpture, The Baker Museum has partnered with the Pelican Bay Foundation to create a sculpture walk along the sidewalk across the street from the Hayes Hall and museum entrances on Pelican Bay Boulevard. Read the full story on WGCU.

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Inspiration for ‘Dutch House’ exhibition at Baker Museum was Ann Patchett’s 2019 novel

“The Dutch House” art exhibition closes January 5th. Philadelphia-based artist Becky Suss’ inspiration for the works in this show was American author Ann Patchett’s 2019 novel of the same name. Hear or read the full story on WGCU.

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Alex Katz exhibit at Baker Museum provides pop art slant on artist’s decades-long collaborations

Alex Katz: Theater and Dance constitutes the first comprehensive exploration of Katzʼs playful and inventive collaborations with choreographers, dancers and members of avant-garde theater ensembles over six decades. In addition to presenting a range of works by innovators across the performing arts and poetry, it spotlights 15 shows Katz produced with Paul Taylor, exploring the creative partnership that generated some of the most significant postmodern dance and art of the 20th century. Hear or 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     ART FAIRS AND FESTIVALS 

29th Naples New Year’s Art Fair is January 4 & 5

Each year, Southwest Florida residents and visitors enjoy more than sixty outdoor art fairs and festivals. Among them is the Naples New Year’s Art Fair. It’s consistently ranked among the nation’s top fine art fairs by Sunshine Artist Magazine. Because of its national ranking and the beautiful weather in Southwest Florida this time of year, the Naples Art Institute’s New Year’s Art Fair draws 250 of the finest artists in the country and as many as 20,000 art enthusiasts. Go here for more.

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3     ON STAGE AT AREA THEATERS

Here’s what’s at area theaters as you celebrate New Year’s week

Theatergoers can celebrate New Year’s week with five theater entertainment choices, including the opening of Spaceman at Urbanite Theatre in Sarasota and The Buddy Holly Story at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. Hear or read the full story on WGCU.

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4     THEATER

Wescoast Black Theatre Troupe’s Christmas card to the community closes January 5

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe calls its holiday offering its Christmas card to the community. This year, WBTT returns “A Motown Christmas” to the Donelly Theatre stage.

“I created it from the history of Motown, so in the show, we talk about historical facts and share the music off of the Motown artists’ Christmas albums, as well as a lot of the traditional Christmas music of the world,” said founder and Artistic Director Nate Jacobs, who wrote and arranged the musical.

Hear or listen to the full story on WGCU.

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Luminary Hotel wants help solving ‘Case of Maltese Crow Murder’

“The Case of the Maltese Crow Murder” is a captivating dinner theater event that will be performed February 1 and 2 at Luminary Hotel by the acclaimed GibsonHouse Mystery Performers. “Everybody likes to be a detective,” says Producer Serena Gibson. “Everybody likes to be curious on what happened.” Hear or listen to the full story on WGCU.

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5     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.

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Opera Naples helping new-to-opera attendees getting that Julia Roberts experience

On Nov. 21, OPERA America released a groundbreaking report titled “Understanding Opera’s New Audiences.” The yearlong study delved into the motivations, experiences and barriers faced by new opera audiences nationwide. In a nutshell, most new-to-opera attendees come for that Julia Roberts-Pretty Woman experience. That doesn’t surprise Opera Naples Artistic Director Ramon Tebar. Listen to or read the full story on WGCU.