April 2015 - Art Quilters Unlimited Group, Tom Nagata and Pat Cleveland

Join Arts for ACT Gallery, located at 2265 First Street in downtown Fort Myers on Friday, April 03, from 6 to 10 pm for the opening reception and art walk for our April featured artists: Group Exhibit by The Art Quilters Unlimited in the main gallery. Showing off the main gallery: Painter, Tom Nagata, and in the White Gallery, “Transitions” Pat Cleveland – a legally blind artist.  These exhibits continue through April 27, 2015.  

In the Main Gallery – Art Quilters Unlimited Group Exhibit

Art Quilters Unlimited AQU TAKING A BITE OUT OF FT MYERS with "Slice Quilts"

Art Quilters Unlimited exhibit, "Cityscapes - A Slice of Ft. Myers" for the month of April will delight visitors to Arts for Act gallery in downtown Ft. Myers.  AQU's last show was described by their exibit judge, Alicia Schmidt as " ..a complex kaleidoscope of techniques, styles and imagery. WOW! What can happen with fiber, fabric and thread! I have always respected the artistry of this group – and they have delighted!  The Art Quilters Unlimited works “unexpected” and “unique”.  

Art Quilters are creating special 15" x 35" slice quilts of Ft. Myers scenes for this exhibit along with other size art quilts and many small quilted items for purchase.  AQU is a group of very talented Fiber Artists working with cloth and quilting techniques to create extraordinary wall art. Quilters meet every other month starting in January at the Alliance for the Arts.  They welcome anyone interested in creating textiles, learning and sharing.  www.artquiltersunlimited.com  Workshops and "Play-Days" by local and national art quilters are offered almost every month.  Excitement and enthusiasm are through the roof at every get-together!

In the White Gallery – Pat Cleveland

“Transitions”by Cape Coral artist, Pat Cleveland, is the first showing of Cleveland’s newest paintings since she developed macular degeneration 3 years ago and now is considered legally blind. The artist considers the change in vision not as a challenge but as an opportunity for creative growth. Instead of her previous quite detailed work she is using a more impressionistic or abstract approach with strong colors in her palette.  There will be paintings from previous years showing her style of work prior to the vision changes as well. All of the paintings are rendered in oil on canvas and include various subjects of landscapes, portraits, animals, florals, and still life.

A graduate of Traphagen School of Design, New York, N. Y., Cleveland worked as an interior designer for Bloomingdales. Originally from New Jersey, she moved to cape Coral in 1975 and was employed by Robb and Stucky.  After retirement she became a member of local art leagues, showing her work in group and solo shows winning awards and notices. In later years her paintings were represented by art galleries in Ft. Myers, Sanibel, Naples, Matlacha, and Lakeland, Fl. Her work is in the collections of celebrities such as Lily Tomlin, the actress, Russian Ice Dance Olympic Gold Medalists, local and national collecors.  For the last 25 years Cleveland has donated paintings to the annual Arts for ACT Auction. In 2013 she was one of 6 featured artists of ACT.

 Off the Main Gallery – Tom Nagata

Thomas Hiromu Nagata was born of Japanese-American parents in 1947 in Honolulu, Hawaii.  He graduated wit a BFA in Graphic Design from Ohio University.  Tom began his career in the field of education and moved to Fort Myers to teach in the Lee County School District.  Tom’s original works began in acrylic, his limited edition silk-screen pieces ranged from four to twenty-one colors.  His works soon blossomed into 30” X 40” gallery wrapped canvases that tease the eye into following the painting around its edges.  The subjects reflect his youth in Hawaii, Orchids, Koi and more.  Tom’s choice of color and balance create movement on his canvas.  Paying close attention to detail, he laboriously applies my layers of pigments that are watered to create different tones and hues.  The process is very time-consuming, often taking two to three months per original.  Come see these stunning works that focus on tropical subjects and Hawaii.

Arts for Act: March 2015 at ACT Gallery ArtPoems, The Everharts ...

Arts for Act: March 2015 at ACT Gallery ArtPoems, The Everharts ...: Join Arts for ACT Gallery, located at 2265 First Street in downtown Fort Myers on Friday, March 6, from 6 to 10 pm for the opening recept...

March 2015 at ACT Gallery ArtPoems, The Everharts and Mary Michelle Scott

Join Arts for ACT Gallery, located at 2265 First Street in downtown Fort Myers on Friday, March 6, from 6 to 10 pm for the opening reception and art walk for our March featured artists: Group Exhibit by ArtPoems in the main gallery. Showing off the main gallery: Photographer, Mary Michelle Scott, and The Everhart’s Beth and Bill, “A Small Vacation” a fresh new look at vintage photography.  These exhibits continue through March 30, 2015. 



Donna Quixote and Her Sidekick by Kellen Beck Mills 

In the Main Gallery – ArtPoems Group Exhibit

ArtPoems, a creative collaboration of artists and poets, celebrates its ninth season as a cultural exhibit /event with a month long gallery show at Art for ACTS Gallery.  22 poems and 22 art works will be on exhibit.  During the opening, several poets will read their work.  This year, eleven artists and eleven poets collaborated and inspired each other to create new art and new poetry. Paired earlier in the season, the artists and poets exchanged poetry and art. Each artist created new artwork inspired by a poem and each poet wrote a new poem inspired by the artwork. In total 22 new creations resulted. Visual arts and spoken word art enthusiasts, this exhibit is a must-see!

In the White Gallery – The Everharts-Beth and Bill

A Small Vacation – An Installation of Found Snapshots

Vintage Found Photo for the Installation

Beth and Bill Everhart’s collaborative exhibition, titled A Small Vacation, was originally presented at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center in Staten Island, New York. At the time, they had been collecting found snapshots for a number of years and were interested in using them in some way in an art installation. The fact that it had been a bitterly cold winter that year in New York may have drawn them to images of people enjoying themselves in the sunshine and frolicking on the beach.  At some point they realized that they could select certain snapshots so that they linked together in an unbroken horizon line of water. It became the impetus for the show and a way for them to visually recreate a much needed small vacation of their own.

The artists first met when they were graduate students at Hunter College in New York City and both received their Masters of Fine Arts degrees from Hunter. Bill and Beth married in 1991, and have resided in Fort Myers, Florida for the past ten years. Beth’s photography has been widely exhibited in New York, as well as Southwest Florida, and internationally. Bill is currently working on a book proposal concerning the influence of the Kennedy assassination on themes found in American pop music. This will be their first collaborative exhibit at the Arts for Act Gallery.

 Off the Main Gallery – Mary Michelle Scott

Mary Michelle Scott has lived in SW Florida for the last twenty years. She moved here to accept a job as a Radiation Therapist treating cancer patients. This has been her primary career since 1986, with photography, digital/ conceptual art, and writing being a very passionate hobby. The hobby grew to a second career when the youngest of her three sons began school at Savannah College of Art and Design and she realized that dreams really could come true watching him pursue his dream. Her family and friends strongly supported her new goals in life as she began to live her own dream.

 

Untitled by Mary Michelle Scott

She is known for being an Army brat most of her life before twenty, then a wife, Mama Scott to three sons, a daughter-in-law and many “adopted” children, care giver to her much loved patients, artist, dreamer and most importantly a believer of the Fiery Tails that were inspired by the ‘Grimm’ tales of our childhood that shaped her creative dreams, writing, and images. She created Fiery Tail Imagery to showcase her work and to allow others to enjoy her artwork. Her childhood in West Germany greatly influenced her work, being surrounded by an immense history and vast culture of many different genres of art styles. 

Arts for Act: Jerry McGreens, Stephen Heymann and Art by Kids wi...

Arts for Act: Jerry McGreens, Stephen Heymann and Art by Kids wi...: Join Arts for ACT Gallery, located at 2265 First Street in downtown Fort Myers on Friday, February 6, from 6 to 10 pm for the opening recep...

Jerry McGreens, Stephen Heymann and Art by Kids with Cancer at ACT Gallery for February

Join Arts for ACT Gallery, located at 2265 First Street in downtown Fort Myers on Friday, February 6, from 6 to 10 pm for the opening reception and art walk for our February featured artists: Pop-Surrealist, Jerry McGreens in the main gallery. Showing off the main gallery: Painter, Stephen Heymann combines nature and abstraction for a fresh new look and the Art by Kids with Cancer Fundraising Project.  This exhibit continues through March 2, 2015. 

 

In the Main Gallery – Jerry McGreens

Jerry McGreens began his art career after high school. He took on an apprenticeship to tattoo, while attending some art classes on campus at UNLV. After his apprenticeship was over, he began tattooing full time in his home city of Las Vegas. Ten years later, he moved to Florida to continue his career.  Jerry always dabbled in painting, but work had kept him too busy.  After spending an additional ten years tattooing and recreating someone else's ideas, he felt the need to express his own through painting full time.

Jerry’s art consists of a dark blend of cute and creepy that invites the viewer to move into a world where these creatures have their own agendas. These eccentric souls explore their odd worlds and guide us through what is their reality.  The world around him, his dreams, and other artists that he comes in contact with musically, lyrically, and artistically inspires him. Funny things that may occur in his daily life, ridiculous things, that humans do is also a big inspiration.

Jerry states, “What makes my world go round are: My wife, our Boston Terriers, self sustainable home farming, wrenching on, and restoring vintage import motorcycles and of course...to PAINT!”

In the White Gallery – The Art by Kids with Cancer

“The Art by Kids with Cancer exhibit” is produced, drawn and painted by the children at The Pediatric Oncology/Hematology program at the Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida.   The program raises awareness in the general community as to the importance of the arts in healing and the challenges faced by local families of children diagnosed with cancer.
The Young Artists Awards, a not-for-profit organization serving area children, mats and frames and then showcases, sells, and auctions selected pieces of the children’s artwork.  Trained volunteers will be available to talk about the artwork and program during the opening. More information can be found at www.youngartistsawards.org.  The program will also be accepting donations of art supplies during the opening on February 6.  Small canvases, acrylic paints, brushes, and frames are especially needed.  

 Off the Main Gallery – Stephen Heymann

Stephen Heymann is a new resident of Fort Myers from Jacksonville, Florida.  His inspiration is derived from his varied personal experiences outdoors, from crewing sailboats and working with the Florida Park Service to spending three months in the wilderness and hiking 1,200 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail, Stephen accumulated a large volume of visual references to portray. By studying animals, plants and insects closely, he witnessed endless complexity in both color and form.  He believes there is vast intelligence and beauty in nature and strives to convey that through his artwork.  By combining realism and abstraction in an ever-evolving process, each of his paintings will typically influence the next. A small blotch of paint in a previous piece may be the main theme in his next endeavor. This process of diving deeper and deeper into his work somewhat resembles an abstract fractal. A never ending and constantly evolving landscape that he and the viewer may explore. It is his hope that his work will encourage people to look closer at their true surroundings and find both inspiration and connectivity in the natural world.

January 2, 2015 ACT Gallery features Martha Dodd, Ellen Sayet and John Scopps

Join Arts for ACT Gallery, located at 2265 First Street in downtown Fort Myers on Friday, January 2, from 6 to 10 pm for the opening reception and art walk for our January featured artists: Realist Oil Painter Martha Dodd in the main gallery. Showing off the main gallery: Stills and Figurative Works of Ellen Sayet and the Abstracts of John Scoppa.  This exhibit continues through February 2, 2015.  

In the Main Gallery – Martha Dodd  Painting has been Martha Dodd's passion and full time occupation for the past 27 years. 

Martha Dodd resides in Fort Myers, Florida, and works in her art studio there. She enjoys painting people, animals, and landscapes. While Martha often travels to client's homes to paint unique murals, working hand in hand with interior decorators, designers, and architects, her goal is to focus more and more on portraits, and capturing life in a natural setting. Her original paintings are created in oils, and occasionally acrylic. She prefers to work on large canvases, and her subjects include horses, birds, people, and mermaids.  This past summer she traveled to Europe for a 6 week long tour to study art in Rome, Florence, Vienna, Split, and Paris.  Website, www.followyourartllc.com.   When Martha isn't painting, she enjoys horseback riding, and sailing with her best guy, Marc.

In the White Gallery – John Scoppa

John Scoppa grew up in Boston, MA. He is now a resident of Cape Coral, FL., moving here 3 ½ years ago from Palm Springs, CA. John was a hair and makeup artist for 20 years and began painting 4 years ago.  Intrigued by abstract art and its fascination, John began painting in California beginning with a course at the College of the Desert in Palm Springs.  What attracts John to abstract versus reality paintings are movement, flow and shape. He strives for a composition that moves your eyes through the painting and provides stopping points for you. Allowing your eyes to move through the painting creates a thought or completing an image.

 Off the Main Gallery – Ellen Sayet

Ellen Sayet has always loved sketching and painting but they took a secondary position between two successful careers.  The world of art has opened up as my primary focus since being retired.  Self taught with an occasional drawing class, I enjoy painting realism with “an edge”.  Ellen’s figurative paintings are classic drawings with an inventive and creative side.  Most important to her is producing works of realism and figurative portraiture in oil and pastel, and capturing the mood, personality and inner soul of the subjects.

Arts for Act: Paul Rodino, Julie "Tink" Markytan and Terry Lynn ...

Arts for Act: Paul Rodino, Julie "Tink" Markytan and Terry Lynn ...: Join Arts for ACT Gallery, located at 2265 First Street in downtown Fort Myers on Friday, November 7, from 6 to 10 pm for the opening recep...