Art Under the Stars - The Annual Maitland Rotary Art Festival

Autumn is here bringing cooler weather, less humidity and Art Under the Stars, the Annual Maitland Rotary Art Festival at Lake Lily.

The annual event, now in it's 34th year, brings artists from all over the United States to exhibit, sell and compete for $20,000 worth of prizes awarded by a panel of three judges.  This years show featured the works of 139 artists, done in a variety of media including, Fine Crafts, Graphics/Drawing, Jewelry & Metalwork, Mixed Media, Oils & Acrylics, Photography, Pottery, Sculpture and Watercolor. An array of exciting artworks captured the imagination in the tent lined show.

The Artist tents lined the walkway that wound around Lake Lily and gave event goers an opportunity to see several spectacular delights in the works themselves and to also enjoy a beautiful fall day or evening with the fountain, turtles and birds of Lake Lily as a backdrop.

As I wandered around the lake, the vibrant acrylics of Edward Sanderson grabbed my eye with his use of bright oranges, reds and blues in his Florida landscape images.  Sanderson, from Clermont Florida, is a Contemporary Impressionist painter who uses bright colors to portray buildings and trees in everyday urban landscapes.

A bit further down were the hand carved assortment of boxes done in aged hardwoods such as mahogany and cocobolo and stacked boxes carved from maple and walnut. The artist, Greg Thomas-Moore from Deltona Florida, many times uses spalted woods because of their natural beauty. The spalting, characterized by black lines that run through the wood and create unique patterns, is caused by fungi that have begun to age and decay the wood. To view each piece and understand not only the aging process in nature, but the mastery of each hand carving was amazing.

In the background the guitar music of two performers on the North Stage faded into the sounds of the crowd and people talking and soon turned to the melodic voices of a singing trio performing on the South Stage.  Culture, beauty and art were everywhere and families, young and old were out to enjoy it all.  The smell of chicken, hot dogs and pizza emanated from the food vendors and I saw several people with ice cream as well.

Art Under the Stars is an annual tradition for The Rotary Club of Maitland, the people and artists and not only provides a venue for professional artists to display and sell their works, but also gives the Rotary Club of Maitland an opportunity to enhance the community with a fun cultural event.  An event where live music can be enjoyed,  and where the works of Seminole and Orange County Elementary, Middle and High school students can be seen on display at the Civic Center building, near the venue entrance.

The event lasts for three days, this year October 1st, 2nd and 3rd and is free for the public to enjoy. I hope that you can come out to support the community and the arts and attend future events whose dates will be posted here.

For more information on the Maitland Rotary Art Festival please contactwww.maitlandrotaryartfestival.com

For more information on Edward Sanderson please contact www.originalsbysanderson.com

For more information on Greg Thomas-Moore and his business, The Little Wooden Box Company, please contact www.tlwbc.com

What's Happening at the Orlando Museum of Art?

Where else can you go to be visually entertained by colorful sculptures, stop in the midst of it all and work on a puzzle or get lost in the world of bright, hand crafted  African textiles and beads?  The answer is the Orlando Museum of Art located at 2416 North Mills Avenue in Orlando.

The Orlando Museum of Art was founded in 1924 with a mission to culturally enhance the area and to date they have been quite successful by not only collecting, but also exhibiting the paintings, photographs and sculptures of American Artists John Singer Sargent, George Innes, Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams to name a few. Their "Currents in Contemporary Art", test the imagination and creative spirit by exhibiting the colorful sculptures of  John Chamberlain,  the use of cut glass by Therman Statom and the amazing creations using thumbprints by Chuck Close.

Currently on exhibit is "Elegant Enigmas: The Art of Edward Gorey".  For those unfamiliar with Edward Gorey, he was an American artist/illustrator and writer most known for his representation of the macabre in pen and ink and has been compared to the likes of Aubrey Beardsley.  Though most of his stories detail the less than pleasant that has befallen upon children, much in the vein of the more recent works of Lemony Snicket in his  "Series of Unfortunate Events", there is some dark humor to be found as well as a plethora of exquisite illustrations, capturing every detail and bringing the characters to life.  Most amazing at the exhibit is a collection of envelopes from letters the illustrator had sent to his mother in Chicago over the years.  On the outside of each envelope Mr. Gorey had drawn a unique scene, most in black and white but some filled in with watercolor as well. No doubt entertaining for the USPS as well as the intended recipient.  The exhibit is scheduled to be at OMA through October 31st 2010 and might be a perfect Halloween treat!

The museum's hours are Tuesday - Friday 10-4, Saturday and Sunday 12-4, Closed Mondays and Major Holidays.

Admission is $8 for Adults, $7 for Seniors, College Students, Military and groups of 10 or more. $5 for Children aged 4-17 and Free for Children 3 and under and museum members.  There is also currently a free admission program for Bank of America customers who present a debit card and id on the first Sunday of every month.  This program runs through December 31st, 2010.  The museum itself also has a program called First Thursdays where admission is free 6-9.

For more information please call 407-896-4231 or go to www.omart.org