Colorado Springs police arrested 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich on five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury. Patrons at the bar helped to subdue him after the shots were fired.
Best Artist
2022
https://southfloridagaynews.com/Local/best-of-2022-palm-beach.html
Rolando Barrero is the owner of the Box Gallery in West Palm Beach. He and his Gallery have been recognized as the Best Artist and Best Gallery of 2022. This is Barrero’s second year being selected as Best Artist. Best Gallery won in a reader’s choice category.
Of his artistry, Barrero said, “I try to create culturally relevant and thought-provoking work without compromise.” His latest piece, “The Family,” was recently installed as a public art piece at the Opportunity Early Childhood Education & Family Center in West Palm Beach.
“The Box Gallery will continue to maintain its reputation as a First Amendment space where all voices can be amplified through the arts,” Barrero said of his gallery. Barrero cultivates diverse styles of art and does not prioritize any one style over another.
“All art is welcome here,” he said.
2021
https://southfloridagaynews.com/Local/palm-beach-s-best-lgbt-activist-artist-is.html
Rolando Chang Barrero has done a lot for Palm Beach County, so perhaps that’s why readers voted him as the Best LGBT Activist, Best Artist, and his art gallery in West Palm Beach won for Best Art Gallery.
Executive Director of Compass, Julie Seaver won this category so many times we decided to rename it LGBT Activist (NOT Named Julie Seaver), with her blessing!
Chang Barrero created the Pajaro Pride Wall Project, an auction that has over 100 artists, friends, allies, and community leaders creating art to sell.
“ I’m very honored to be included on this list among so many friends and associates,” Chang Barrero said. “It’s a great honor to be recognized by our community and I am very grateful. I’m very happy to be able to continue to serve my community.”
He has been creating art for over 40 years, according to his bio. He is a multimedia artist with a portfolio including fashion design, film, painting, acting, and more. His activism and his art are often intertwined, which is why the exhibits that his art gallery hosts feature topics that range from human rights to personal identity. Barrero has built a gallery in which it's easy to get lost, yet somehow find a piece of yourself along the way.
The Box Gallery
www.TheBoxGallery.info
GARTEL: MEDIA BLITZ PALM BEACH
September 3 – October 1, 2022
The Box Gallery
811 Belvedere Rd.
West Palm Beach, FL 33405
www.TheBoxGallery.info
Fine Art Exhibition: GARTEL: MEDIA BLITZ PALM BEACH
Reception: September 3, 2022 at 7 p.m.
Laurence Gartel, known as the Father of Digital Art has been pioneering the Computer aesthetic for over 45-years. It has been a global journey showing the world a new way to communicate. Gartel and his new visual language sparked interest delivering the keynote speech at the First Pan Pacific Computer Conference in Melbourne, Australia. His arrival triggered much anticipated excitement landing him on the front page of The Australian newspaper in 1985. This was a decade after Gartel discovered analog system computers working with video guru Nam June Paik at Media Study/Buffalo in upstate New York.
The “Being Heard, Being Seen” art exhibit, a celebration of self-identity and expression by local artists who identify as LGBTQ+, is on display through April 9 at the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County.
A 7-foot figure offering masks, interactive poetry and paintings covered with shiny, smooth resin are part of the exhibit that explores the rights, representation and experiences of the LGBTQ+ community.
“The goal of this exhibition is to encourage everyone to be their authentic selves, to champion understanding, compassion and important conversations, and to create a safe space where everyone feels heard and seen for who they are — without question or compromise. When we do that, we make room for real impact,” said Dave Lawrence, the Cultural Council president and chief executive officer.
COVID-19 has been a powerful influence in the artwork, said Jessica Ransom, director of Artist Services. Solitude, kindness and people masking their feelings during the outbreak are vividly shown in the artwork, she said.
“We have amazing artists in our community. They are putting their hearts and beings into their work,” said Ransom.
Viewers can interact with a poetry exhibit by Stacie M. Kiner and her partner Dianna I. Rosenberg. After reading the poetry, viewers are invited to write down and submit their reactions on sheets of paper.
“I want everyone to have their basic needs met,” wrote one viewer.
An exhibit by Rolando Chang Barrero, founder of the Box Gallery in West Palm Beach, is a series of acrylics showing about 50 faces lined up on the wall. Colorful, mysterious and expressive, they show joy, hope, surprise, love, sadness and fear.
The colors do not match the expressions. A fearful face is painted bright orange connoting happiness. A grinning, eyebrow-raised face is grayish, reflecting sadness.
“That’s where the mask comes in. Many of us were wearing masks to the world during the pandemic, hiding our real emotions,” said Ransom.- continue reading
Thursday, January 27, 2022, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Advance registration required. Free for members of the Cultural Council; $20 for nonmembers.
All people wish to be heard and seen for exactly who they are without question or compromise. Artists are uniquely capable of visually capturing and communicating their emotions and essence through their work. This exhibition will include artists who identify as LGBTQ+ as well as artists whose work interrogates issues of rights, representation, and the lived experience of LGBTQ+ individuals. This exhibition is presented in collaboration with artist Jose Alvarez.
