Wednesday, November 23, 2011

The Boynton Beach Art in Public Places Expands Program!

ART IN PUBLIC PLACES includes Visits to The District!

Led by Debby Coles-Dobay and museum docent 
Lori J. Durante, the initial tour to The District was a success!

  The 20 members from the Vizcaya Country Club visited all the 
Studios and Gallery located at The District this past Monday.

Presentations were made at every stop and a question and answer period to help the guest acquire a 
rich and insightful view of the work and events happening on a regular basis. Given the experience and wealth of information of the studio artists, the tour fascinated and intrigued the guests! 

Enjoy the photographs of the event!
Photography by Debby Coles_Dobay, 
Public Art Administrator for the City of Boynton Beach



















Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Delray Forum: Local Art Gallery Owner Gets Contract!

http://blogs.trb.com/community/news/delray_forum/2011/11/local_art_gallery_owner_gets_t_1.html


Local art gallery owner gets three-year contract to produce Delray Affair posters

Celebrating its 50th year, the Delray Affair has chosen local artist and gallery owner Ora Sorensen as the winner of the Delray Affair poster design contest.

A power force in the Delray Beach art scene, Sorensen owns the Ora Sorensen Art Gallery, 445 E. Atlantic Ave.
In years past, the Delray Affair commemorative poster was awarded yearly. According to Nancy Stewart, the special events and program director for the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, this honor provides Sorensen a three-year contract to design the annual commemorative poster for the Delray Affair following the "theme" of her design.
"Since the Delray Affair evolved from the original "Gladiola Festival," Ora incorporated gladiolas with some of her favorite Delray Beach images into the sketches that were submitted for consideration. The Colony...So iconic, and the beach of course," Stewart said.
"She also loves the colors of the historic train station and the line of the roof (perfect behind a gladiola stalk). Her finished piece is an oil painting of The Colony Hotel and pink gladiolas, and more than suitable for reproduction as the lines are crisp, clear and colorful."
Stewart said Sorensen's inspiration comes from Delray Beach.
"She loves the charm, the beach, the downtown and the people. For 20 years Delray has given her a platform to showcase her art to visitors from all over the world," Stewart said.
And the artist agrees.
"The corner of Atlantic and Federal has given me opportunities and exposure that has made my career as an artist larger than it would have been if I was located elsewhere. Thanks Delray!" Sorensen said.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Cultural Council asks artists 'how can we help you?'

Cultural Council asks artists 'how can we help you?' By JAN SJOSTROM DAILY NEWS ARTS EDITOR Posted: 6:33 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011 The mood was optimistic when more than 50 artists gathered to brainstorm about ways the Palm Beach County Cultural Council could improve its services to them. The meeting, held Wednesday at the Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, was the third of four organized to solicit feedback from individual artists. A written survey also is being conducted. To date, most of the council’s focus has been on cultural organizations. Now it plans to do more for individual artists, president and chief executive officer Rena Blades told the group. In January, the council will open the 11,000-square-foot Robert M. Montgomery Jr. Building in Lake Worth, where it will have 2,500 square feet of exhibition space, meeting rooms, and a store featuring locally made arts and crafts. The organization has hired a staff person to work on individual artists’ programs. Kathleen Klein, chairwoman of the dance department at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, wasn’t sure what to expect from the meeting, but “I want to be part of the conversation,” she said. As a performing artist, she was in the minority. Attendance has been dominated by visual artists, Blades said. The council hopes that artists from other disciplines will step forward as its services for individual artists increase. The bulk of the two-hour meeting was spent in small-group discussions in which responses were solicited in five areas: professional development and training; financial and work support mechanisms; artist access to art-making equipment and work spaces; artist convening, networking and presentation space; and reaching new audiences, markets and customers. Palm Beach interior designer Mars Jaffe was enthusiastic about the meeting. “This is great,” she said. “We need this in this county.” She’d like the council to help artists secure affordable studio spaces and a place where they could network and talk about art. Other requests include an online classified ad service for artists and marketing training, Blades said. “We’re hearing things we could not have thought of on our own,” she said. “We’re getting some great feedback.” Boynton Beach photographer and digital artist Flo Minton recently set up an online store to sell posters, calendars, greeting cards and other products she designs. She’s delighted that the council is taking a greater hand in aiding individual artists. “I have all these ideas,” she said. “Who am I going to go to to make them happen? People like this. This is what makes it happen.” The council isn’t the first organization to survey artists to shape a game plan to meet their needs. The Artists of Palm Beach County coalition did that about six years ago, but fell short in execution. “Having the Cultural Council driving the engine makes it a lot more possible,” said Terre Rybovich, one of Artists of Palm Beach County’s founders. The council will hold another meeting with artists in April, when it will release the results of its research. The report also will be shared with the county’s cultural organizations. Artists can expect some new programs to start soon. But more difficult proposals, such as possible new grants programs, will take longer to develop, Blades said.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Artist Conversations: Speak Up! Last Chance!

Suggests You Attend and Speak Up!


Tonight: Last Chance to Share Your Needs !

I'd urge all artists to attend this event sponsored by the Palm Beach  County Cultural Council .
This is a citywide Artist Assessment of our needs as artist.
We don't what to fall asleep at the wheel on this one! New programing is being developed that will impact our various communities throughout Palm Beach County and we are being asked what our needs are, so show up and speak up!

There is one last chance for participation:

1977 SW College Drive
Belle Glade, FL 33430

For more arts opportunities and information check out: Voices and Venues

Join us on facebook

Monday, November 14, 2011

Meet ActivistArtistA


http://www.facebook.com/pages/ActivistArtistA-GalleryStudio/268376676536479

See Photos of Grand Opening: http://web.me.com/steveanton1/Boynton_Beach_Art_Walk/Boynton_Beach_Art_Walk_Photos.html


Description
ActivistArtistA Gallery/Studio
422 West Industrial Ave
Boynton Beach, FL

Proud Member of the Boynton Beach Art District
Address
Phone
Website


 Artist & Gallery Director Rolando Chang Barrero


Photographer Dan O'Brian at Pre-Opening of ActivistArtistA Gallery


Grand Opening Exhibition at ActivistArtistA Gallery


Artist Rolando Chang Barrero at ActivistArtistA Studio
Collection of his work and "Greed Kills" Public Art by the KwaK!


Guest at The District pose for photo op!


Members of the Vizcaya Country Club at the ActivistArtistA Gallery


The Studio




http://www.facebook.com/pages/ActivistArtistA-GalleryStudio/268376676536479

See Photos of Grand Opening: http://web.me.com/steveanton1/Boynton_Beach_Art_Walk/Boynton_Beach_Art_Walk_Photos.html 


Description
ActivistArtistA Gallery/Studio
422 West Industrial Ave
Boynton Beach, FL

Proud Member of the Boynton Beach Art District
Address
Phone
Website



Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Boynton Beach artist shows his artwork in warehouse-turned-gallery space


Alyssa Orr/The Palm Beach Post
"It's a language all in it's own," Artist Roly Chang Barrero said referring to what art means to him. "It's a journey. It's a dialogue." Barrero owns the alternative art space he named ActivistArtistA in Boynton Beach. The art space is his working studio but he also transforms it into a gallery every other month to provide artists and the community with a new way to view and enjoy the art of emerging artists.
By LINDA HAASE
Special to Neighborhood Post

Updated: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011
Posted: 12:26 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011

— While other kids his age were batting home runs on Saturdays, Roly Chang Barrero was learning to paint.
"I was never very good at baseball. But I loved to paint," says the Delray Beach resident about his foray into the art world at age 7.
His baseball skills never improved, but he did become a noted artist. And now, the 49-year-old School of the Art Institute of Chicago grad has opened ActivistArtistA, an alternative art space in Boynton Beach. The former nondescript garage-type bay is now exploding with color. It's his working studio, but every other month it's transformed into a gallery to provide artists and the community with a new way to view and enjoy the world of emerging artists.
"It's a fun way for people to see the art and meet the artist. We will have music and other things to saturate people with art," says Barrero, a Southwest Senior High School graduate who moved to Miami from New Jersey while a teenager. "There is a need for that in this community."
The grand opening of the studio/gallery is 6 p.m., Nov. 11 and will feature the work of Kim Fay and Robert Catapano along with music and a fun vibe. Future exhibits will also be a two-person show with about 20 works exhibited, which will remain on display for a month.
ActivistArtistA Gallery/Studio is the newest member of the of Boynton Beach Neighborhood Arts District, established in 1986 by Richard Beau Lieu. It's on Industrial Avenue, an apt name for the area dotted with industrial-type businesses. (All studios and galleries in the district will be open during the Nov. 11 event).
Barrero, a former clothes designer who had an art studio in Miami Beach for nearly 20 years, works in mixed media but also sculpts and draws.
"Art is a language," he explains. His imagery is "loaded," he says, but he doesn't get into deep explanations of it. "Like Oscar Wilde said 'You look under the surface at your own risk,'" he says.
He hopes to teach classes in the future at his studio and also wants to help establish art walks in Boynton Beach's QuantumTown Centere, the site of the Swing Space program, which features the work of South Florida artists, including paintings, photographs and mixed media in the center's vacant storefronts.
"I want Boynton Beach to be a major place for artists," he says.
Neighborhood Gallery is at 422 West Industrial Ave.

What are your hobbies?
'I like to go to the beach with my two dogs. I like to garden. I'm trying to mimic the Sandoway House garden at my house and am trying to establish a butterfly garden. And I go on group runs with other motorcyclists. I love the idea of this big convoy of motorcycles, and if we can raise money to help someone else, all the better.'
What is the biggest misconception about art?
'That there is nothing new, nothing fresh. There is still a lot of vibrant, new stuff out there.'
What feeling do you want to evoke with your art?
'I want people to feel happy when they see my work.'

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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

theKwak: A Kwak is born...


Ok, so the "Media Kills" sticker seems to be growing in popularity, 
but I felt like it was time for another image, little did I know that ...