Weekend Top 6 Picks for September 21 and 22, 2019

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Saturday September 21, 2019

10am to Noon. Free. A special tour for interested artists. Back to Nature Wildlife Refuge 450 E. South St., Orlando, Florida, 32801. Orange County, Florida Public Art is looking for artists for a $31,500 commission available for Public Art Project Exterior or Interior Art for New Facilities at the refuge.

Eligibility: International
State: Florida
Entry Deadline: 10/30/19
Days remaining to deadline: 75
REQUIREMENTS:
Media
Images – Minimum: 1, Maximum: 10
Audio – Minimum: 0, Maximum: 1
Video – Minimum: 0, Maximum: 1
Total Media – Minimum: 1, Maximum: 12
View Site Details

Project: 

Back To Nature Wildlife Refuge & Education Center 10525 Clapp Simms Duda Road Orlando, Florida, 32832 

www.btnwildlife.org 

www.facebook.com/BTNwildlife
Project Description

The
Orange County Public Art Review Board seeks an artist or artist team(s)
to develop artwork for the new Back to Nature (BTN) Wildlife Refuge
Center located at Eagles Roost, an Orange County Green PLACE property
managed by the Environmental Protection Division (EPD). The Green PLACE
program is an Orange County public land acquisition and land management
program. This project includes five (5) new buildings that will replace
existing portables. The values of nature, history, community and
nonurban lifestyle should inform the art.

Background

Orange
County, Florida is a rapidly growing metropolitan area of more than one
million residents that contains the city of Orlando and a dozen other
municipalities. Back To Nature (BTN) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public
wildlife rehabilitation facility serving the Central Florida Region.
Since its incorporation in June 1989, BTN has been rescuing, raising,
rehabilitating and releasing injured or orphaned Florida-native species
and educating Orange County visitors about respecting and preserving the
environment. The organization hosts an education center, where citizens
can view and learn about wildlife.

Site

Back To Nature is
located at 10525 Clapp Simms Duda Road on 20 acres of the 232 acres at
Eagles Roost conservation land. This project will add a new Education
Center that will provide a space for community meetings. A new Visitor
Center also will be constructed.

Building and Site

Numerous
possible locations are available for placing or integrating art. These
are the primary spaces with possibilities for art installation or
integration.

· An interior wall (Visitor’s Center)

· Exterior walls (Visitor’s Center and Education Center)

· Front porch of the Education Center and Visitor Center

· Entry sign

· (Common Areas) Walkway

· Approach to the site along the driveway 

Grounds layout, floor plans and elevations are included in the “View Site” feature.

Budget

$31,500 has been approved for artwork.

Artwork

The
Public Artist Selection Panel seeks creative solutions for possible
locations mentioned above or other locations suggested by the artist.
The artwork should be permanent and durable with little maintenance
needed in the location to which it will be sited. 

Artwork should
reflect the mission of the Back to Nature facility that serves as a
rehabilitation center for injured native animals and an educational
center for children and adults to learn about nature with help from the
resident animal ambassadors (animals unable to be returned to the wild).
Many people with impairments find empathy and connection with animals
living with impairment.

Eligibility

This opportunity is
open to professional artists working in any media. Student artists may
apply, if they can secure an experienced public artist to serve as a
mentor to oversee their work.

Selection Process

A
selection panel consisting of the project manager, arts professionals
and BTN staff will review artist qualifications and images of past work.
Several artists will be selected to provide proposals and will be paid a
stipend of $500 each for their site-specific proposal. Final artist(s)
selection will take place after review of the proposals. The director of
Arts & Cultural Affairs serves as the nonvoting chair of the
Selection Panel. 

The Public Artist Selection Panel and Orange
County reserve the right to reject any or all applications, proposals,
applicants or projects, and to modify or terminate the application
process or the selection process for any reason and without prior
notice.

Selection Criteria

Artists will be evaluated on
artistic excellence, as evidenced by submitted materials, professional
experience and compatibility with the architectural design, park
environment and values of the center.

Submittal Requirements

·
Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs uses the CaFÉ online
service for its public art selection process. There is no charge for
artists to register with CaFÉ or submit an application.

· Experience with public art projects with a similar budget is not required but helpful.

· Professional resume (teams must submit resumes for each member).

· Letter of interest, outlining interest in the project and a preliminary statement of approach.

·
A minimum of one (1) image is required, and the maximum is 12.
Images of finished works or conceptual drawings can be submitted.
Provide additional information to assure the Selection Panel of what the
finished work will look like and that it will be completed and
installed as designed.
Timeline

· Release of call to artists: Monday, August 12

· Artist Site Visit at BTN: Saturday, September 21, 10 a.m.-noon

· Submittals due: Wednesday, October 30, midnight MST

· Panel review: Tuesday, November 5, 1-3 p.m. 

· Selected finalists notified: Wednesday, November 6

· Final Proposals Due: Monday, February 3, 2020

· Artwork installation: Winter 2020/Spring 2021

7pm to 9pm Free. Smelly Cat: The All That 90’s Show. Boxi Park Lake Nona, 6877 Tavistock Lakes Blvd, Orlando, FL 32827. Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat, what are they feeding you?
The
members of Subliminal Doubt are STOKED to bring you an all-new show
featuring A VARIETY of hits from the years 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994,
1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and even… 1999!

8pm to 10pm $15-$20. Seasons the Musical. Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. 445 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, FL 32801. Seasons the Musical spans the course of one year,
and is a story about love. This original musical delves into the lives
of two couples. Helen and Peter – classmates who reconnect at a high
school reunion, and struggle with an unexpected pregnancy. And, Hope and
Mrs. Jones – a mother and daughter with a close bond celebrating a
recent engagement and grappling with an unwelcome diagnosis. Poignant
and touching, this story explores these characters with humor and
realism, and will leave the audience wanting more.

Lyrics by Katie Hammond
Music by Elaine Pechacek

Sunday September 22, 2019

9:30am to 12:20pm $275 Urban Sketching Class. Crealde School of Art, 600 St Andrews Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32792. Learn
to sketch from subject to the environment. Classroom sessions will
focus on sketching clothed models and progress towards sketching the
model and classroom environment. Learn how to incorporate storytelling
into your sketches in our location sessions. These trips to local venues
will challenge you to use your sketchbook the way a photojournalist
uses a camera. The six-week goal is to produce finished sketches using
pencil, pen, and watercolor within two hours. Skill level: Intermediate. 

11am to Noon. $5 Yoga. Lake Eola Park near red gazebo. 

Noon to 3pm Donation based. Music at the Casa. Jorge Mendoza. Casa Feliz Historic Home Museum, 656 N Park Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. Members
of the public are invited to visit our historic home museum on a Sunday
afternoon to listen to live music and take a tour of our historic home
museum and the James Gamble Rogers II Studio by trained docents.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for September 7 and 8, 2019

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This month’s concert held at the Timucua White HouseSaturday September 7, 2019

9am to 5pm. $50-$68  Florida Blog Con. Full Sail University, 3300 University Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32792. The
Florida Blogger and Social Media Conference (aka #FLBlogCon) is a
one-day gathering of the state’s biggest bloggers, social media pros,
content creators, marketing and PR pros, and online influencers. Now in
our 9th year, the FLBlogcon planning team is excited to present once
again a day packed with break-out sessions, hands-on classes, and
informative keynotes.

4pm to 7pm Free. Found Spaces: New Paintings by Robert Ross. Arts on Douglas Gallery, 123 Douglas St., New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168. Sept.
7-28, 2019. The show, Found Spaces: New Paintings by Robert Ross, will
feature 38 brand-new art works I created over the past year exploring
interiors and landscape spaces. The exhibit includes a series of
10×10-inch paintings called “DOMUS” that riff on the classic geometry of
domestic spaces.

10:30pm to 12:30am Free but get food and drink. Son Flamenco. Ceviche Tapas Orlando, 125 W Church St, Orlando, FL 32801. 

Sunday September 8, 2019 

9:30am to 12:30pm $275 Crealde Urban Sketching Class. Crealde School of Art, 600 St Andrews Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32792. I am instructing this 6 week course in Sunday mornings.  Learn to sketch from subject to the environment. Classroom sessions will
focus on sketching clothed models and progress towards sketching the
model and classroom environment. Learn how to incorporate storytelling
into your sketches in our location sessions. These trips to local venues
will challenge you to use your sketchbook the way a photojournalist
uses a camera. The six-week goal is to produce finished sketches using
pencil, pen, and watercolor within two hours. Skill level: Intermediate.

Noon to 2pm Free. 10th International Urban Sketchers Symposium Travelogue by USk Orlando.  Sam Flax Orlando 1800 East Colonial Drive 2nd Floor Orlando, FL 32803. Join USk Orlando as we show and tell what we gained from the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Amsterdam! We’ll meet at Sam Flax on Sunday, 9/08 at 12pm.

trav·e·logue

/ˈtravəˌlôɡ/

noun

a movie, book, or illustrated lecture about the places visited and experiences encountered by a traveler.

Join us as we present a travelogue of our personal experiences at the 10th International Urban Sketchers Symposium held in 2019 in the beautiful city of Amsterdam. We will have a Q&A session, show & tell of our sketches done on location during the symposium, and demonstrations of workshops. Stay after and shop at the artist’s mecca, Sam Flax, then join us for a traditional Drink & Draw at Dandelion Communitea Café.

“The Dutch capital city has a history that dates back to the 13th century, and nowadays is a world city with historic as well as modern architecture. It has inspired artists for centuries with its idyllic bridges, canal houses and cobblestones.Amsterdam hosts 180 nationalities so everyone will feel right at home. It has everything you need for spending the perfect day in the City. Hosting world-class museums, it’s not just decked with old canals, charming gabled facades, drawbridges, and windmills but also with cutting edge modern design like the EYE Film museum. Truly an urban sketchers paradise.” http://www.urbansketchers.org/p/usk-amsterdam-2019_99.html

2pm to 4pm $5 Film Slam. Enzian Theater, South Orlando Avenue, Maitland, FL. Originally
a project of University of Central Florida’s Downtown Media Arts
Center, Enzian became the home of FilmSlam when DMAC closed in 2006. FilmSlam will usually be held on the second Sunday of each month at 1PM at Enzian.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for August 24 and 25, 2019

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Saturday August 24, 2019

8am to 1pm Free. Parramore Farmers Market. John H Jackson Community Center, 3107, 1002 W Carter St, Orlando, FL 32805.

10am to 4pm Free. Orlando Elks Vintage Faire. Elk Lodge 1079 12 N Primrose Drive Orlando FL.

10am to 4pm Free. Sanford Farmers Market. First and Magnolia Sanford Fl.



Sunday August 25, 2019

9:30am to 12:30pm $255 members, $275 non-members 6 weeks Crealde Urban Sketch Class. I am instructing. Crealde School of Art, 600 St Andrews Blvd, Winter Park, FL.

Noon to 2pm Free but order food and drink. Florida Gospel Jam. Fish on Fire 7937 Daetwyler Drive Belle Isle FL. Every 2nd and 4th Sunday. 

10pm to Midnight. Free but get a coffee. Comedy Open Mic. Austin’s Coffee, 929 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL. Free comedy show! Come out and laugh, or give it a try yourself.

Aloma Bowl

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My intrepid group of urban sketching students from Crealdé School of Art went for a sketch outing to Aloma Bowl (2530 Aloma Ave, Winter Park, FL 32792) which is just a block away from the school. On Sundays Tournaments are held, so there are some pretty talented bowlers working the lanes.

The goal of this sketch workshop was to help students catch gestures in their sketches. For the first half hour of class we worked in the Crealdé studio, doing quick, two minute sketches to catch gestures. We used a round shaped radio to substitute for a bowling ball and posed, keeping gesture and storytelling in mind. I stressed the importance of using fluid action lines to catch the motion.

The Aloma Bowl lanes were active when we arrived and they grew more crowded as we sketched. I made the rounds, showing the different stages of my sketch as I progressed, and also giving tips and some demonstrations on how to catch a pose in repeated attempts as the parson stepped up to the line to bowl again and again. The large overall sketch was intended to demonstrate one point perspective. I suggested that students only focus on the bowling pins on one lane so they didn’t spent much time obsessing over that one detail.

Families came in to bowl, and guard rails were raised on either side of the one bowling lane so that stray balls didn’t go down someone else’s lane. For the very small kids there was a ramp that could be put on the line and the child just had to get the ball to the top of the ramp and gravity would “bowl” the ball down the lane. I had never seen that contraption before. The first bowler I sketched was finished with his game after only a few times of going up to the line to bowl. I started getting better about watching the score board of people I was sketching, because the board could let me know if I had much time to sketch the people before their game was over. My quick demo sketch stressed the importance of making the figures in the foreground dark against the illuminated lanes. I didn’t spend much time on the sketch since I kept checking in with each student as they worked.

There is a wonderful energy to a bowling alley, as folks celebrate their strikes or spares and chat between games. The place had an auditory buzz about it, punctuated by the loud sounds of the pins getting smashed. As an artist, it is exciting to feed off that energy and try to infuse some of it into each sketch. This was unfortunately the last class with this crew of talented artists. It is always hard to say good by after working with artists for six weeks straight.

My next Urban Sketching: Tips and Techniques class starts June 16, 2019 running each Sunday Morning from 9:30am to 12:30pm. Usually, the first hour we cover a premise in the Crealdé studio and then we break out into the community around the school to sketch on location.

Dragon Parade and Lunar New Year Festival

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The eighth annual Dragon Parade and Lunar New Year Festival was held in the Mills 50 area. Lunar New Year events are based on the Chinese lunisolar calendar, which
calculates both the motions of Earth around the sun, and the moon
around the Earth.

The parade assembled near Track Shack on Mills Avenue and then went down Thornton Avenue ending at the parking lot behind The Cameo Theater, home of Snap Gallery on Colonial Drive. I was teaching an Urban Sketching class at Crealde School of Art on that morning and considered taking my students to the festivities to sketch, but the timing was off. By the time we would have arrived from class, the parade would have been over. Instead I had my student sketch in Panera’s which is a much calmer setting.

Immediately after class I drove over to the parade. A large red an yellow balloon arch marked the entry to the event. Food and merchandiser tents were lined up in the parking lot and the place was packed. On the main stage a drum chore was setting the tone. I finally decided I had to sketch the arch and the tent where the dragon heads were stored.

Orlando Urban Sketchers had decided to come to parade as well to sketch but I didn’t see anyone at first. After I sat and started sketching I was approached by a sketcher who wanted to watch as I sketched. I explained my thought process a bit as I set up the composition. Once she started sketching as I well I got lost in my process.

For the longest time this seemed like a boring sketch location, but then a group of youths in red tee shirts started getting dressed in bright yellow pants. It turned out I was watching two dragon dancers getting ready to perform. Once the head was put on the dragon came alive and a large crowd gathered all around me. The dragon was rather silly often falling down and always getting in the face of small children. One little Chinese girl was mesmerized and she followed the yellow dragon around grinning the whole time. The dragon looked at the sketch in my lap and so I lifted it up so she could see it right side up. She nodded her head with delight.

This is the year of the pig. I didn’t see any pigs at the festivities but Pam brought out Darcy, her new puppy. The dragon was curious about Darcy and danced in front of the her. The puppies eyes bugged out in amazement. She tried to hide behind Pam’s legs and when the dragon once again approached she darted away as fast and as far as she could. Since she was on a leash she didn’t get to far. For her first social outing Darcy got very over stimulated.

It turned out the Urban Sketchers were at the event. They were apparently gathered in the shade behind the main stage. They had their sketch throw down photo op, but I was still in the midst of my one and only sketch surrounded by dragons, so I didn’t get over to where they met. I made the mistake of wearing a black tee shirt to an event in a black
tar parking lot in the insanely hot Florida sun, but I survived. The dragon parade is definitely a great sketch opportunity and I am glad I made it. After the sketch was done I ordered some Pad Thai and Pam and I watched a yo-yo choreographer doing some major moves to rap music. It might sound strange but it was fun to watch.

8th Annual Night of Fire at Crealde School of Art

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Each year, Crealde School of Art (600 Saint Andrews Blvd Winter Park, FL) opens its campus at night for guests to explore during the Night of Fire. Coming straight from teaching at Elite Animation Academy, I arrived late. I quickly wandered around searching for a subject to sketch. The outdoor kiln was glowing hot. In the courtyard there was a Raku and horse hair firing in progress in a much smaller kiln. Outdoor torch cutting and blacksmith demonstrations were going on, but there was a line to get in, so I skipped those options.

From the small foot bridge, I saw the light and fire painting demonstration on the lake. A small row boat was in the middle of the lake and someone stood and twirled a sparkler. It was quickly released and flew off into the water sizzling out. It wasn’t much of a sight but the point was that people could take open exposures and the light would create a pattern on the final shot.

Cats in the House Band was performing on the back patio. I decided to sketch them. Pam was going to meet me there, so I sent a photo her way via messenger so she knew where to find me. Before I got a line on the sketch the band took a break. Rather than hope they might start playing again, I wandered off again and settled on sketching the fire pit. Some people sat here to eat their Peruvian Food truck fair.

A storyteller sat and told tales around the fire. When Pam arrived she sat close and listened. One story was about a magical blank book that was given to a couple which could be used to record each day’s good memories and bad memories. I assumed the blank book might be a sketchbook. The couple recorded their memories diligently at first but then got lazy and started to skip days. Soon, they were skipping weeks at a time letting memories slip by because to the stress of everyday life. At the end of the year they opened the book and relished in seeing their memories relived. The good memories were vibrant and fresh. They wished they had been better about keeping them alive. The bad memories however slipped away on their own, becoming distant and faint.

The fire snapped and crackled with embers floating up into the night sky. Some people recognized me and we joked as I kept sketching. As I worked to finish, I realized that people had left, and the event was winding down. Pam and the storyteller spoke about how oral histories help to keep stories alive. They exchanged cards. Their core missions seemed much aligned. With the fire embers smoldering we walked out to the parking lot and decided to get some groceries at the Publix supermarket next door.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for January 12 and 13, 2019

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Saturday January 12, 2019

5pm to 8pm Free. Night of Fire Crealde. Crealdé School of Art (600 St Andrews Blvd, Winter Park, Florida 32792). Bring your camera, because the stunning campus comes ALIVE after dark for the 8th annual Night of Fire! Enjoy free live music, refreshments, adult beverages, and storytelling around the fire (my cozy favorite), and tour the opening exhibition HAND IN HAND: THE CREATIVE WORKS OF JANVIER MILLER AND GUSTAF MILLER.

It’s fun and free to participate in all of the art workshops and demonstrations; including a torch cut metal demonstration, a gas kiln firing, raku firing and a light painting photography display over Lake Sterling. There will be painting demonstrations in the studios, too. Hands-on youth workshops from 5–6:30 p.m. Live music and workshops for adults until 8 p.m.

The evening also serves as the opening reception for the “Director’s Choice V” exhibition of works by Crealde’s youth faculty.

The Front Office will be open to register for classes. All activities are free.

8pm to Midnight. $5 Second Saturdays in Sanford. West End Trading Company. 202 S. Sanford Ave. Sanford FL 407-322-7475. Two stages of live entertainment.

9pm to Midnight Free but get a beer or two. Eugene Snowden. The Imperial at Washburn Imports

1800 N. Orange Ave. Orlando FL. 407-228-4992.

Sunday January 13, 2019

1pm to  3pm $9. Film Slam. Enzian Theater. 1300 S. Orlando Ave. Winter Park FL. 407-629-0054Bimonthly showcase of independent shorts made by Florida filmmakers. 


1pm to 5:30pm Free. Free Family Day on the Second Sunday. The Mennello Museum of American Art, 900 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL 32803.  The make-and-take craft table is open from noon-2:30 p.m., and docents
are available to give mini-tours of the museum. Then it’s open house in
the galleries until 4:30 p.m.

Noon to 5pm $8 Florida Wedding Expo. Orange County Convention Center. 9800 International Drive 407-685-9800. Fiances, moms, maids and more are all welcome at this wedding expo, with vendors, free services, and honeymoon giveaways. info@floridaweddingexpo.com.

Casa Feliz

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This is another demo sketch from my Sunday morning Crealde Urban Sketching Class. We sketched the historic Casa Feliz (656 N Park Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789) as an exercise in perspective. I was very pleased with this group of artists they applied the principles I suggested and some amazing work was created. Each student had their own particular way of putting lines and washes on the page and that is what makes sketching a pleasure to look at. Like handwriting each artist brings their own touch to an image they create.

Since I would walk around and offer individual notes and suggestions to each student I didn’t take much time on this sketch. I’m finding that dashing off a sketch quickly has it’s advantages. The has to look more spontaneous when you are throwing things on the page with wild abandon. Teaching students to be this careless is one of the most important lessons. When they start they want photographic accuracy, but a camera is much more suited to capture that. This is a case where teaching is making me much more aware of where my work needs to go moving forward.

Aloma Bowl and the Frankenstein Effect

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On Sunday mornings I teach an Urban Sketching class at Crealde School of Art and the goal is to get the class out to sketch in the community each session. We take the first half of the class to discuss a premise and do an exercise and then we apply that lesson out in the field. I had prepared course materials for something I call the Frankenstein Effect. When drawing on location you seldom have more than 5 minuses to draw a person. On many occasions you might only have 30 seconds before the person walks away. The goal of this class was to get the students to get a very fast gesture on the page within that 30 seconds and then add details to the sketch by borrowing body parts from other people. The head might be from one person, the torso from another and the legs from yet a third. Details of fashion are also mixed an matched.

To get started each student posed for a brief moment and we would sketch just their legs to start. The next student would pose and we would sketch the torso and a third student would pose so we could sketch their head. The results were surprisingly consistent and as an outsider you could not tell that the figures had been “Frankensteined” together.

The Aloma Bowl (2530 Aloma Ave. Winter Park FL 32792) has bowling leagues each Sunday, so it offered a great place to sketch to sketch active poses as people bowled. One bowler was interested in buying one of my students sketches and I am trying to get them hooked up. The trouble is I’m not sure which student might have sketched him. I contacted two of them and will show him both their sketches too see if I can find the sketch he wants.

Art Class

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Before I was teaching art classes at Crealde School of Art, I sometimes would stop in at different art classes around Central Florida to see artists at work. This seniors class was in a beautiful location right on a lake with white Ibis hunting for food right on the lawn. This was a watercolor class and I have to admit, I am a bit envious of the wide assortment of watercolor brushes that were available. I scrub watercolor on my sketches with a brush that has clearly seen better days.

I shared my sketchbooks with the class and then settled in to do a sketch of the artists at work. Besides the traditional watercolors being done there was also a large high tech printer available which is again something that would make my life so much easier to have in the studio.

Today was my last day with my Crealde Urban Sketch students and it always feels terrible to leave them just as they are warming up to the journey of doing sketches consistently. Once in a while a student comes along who embraces all you offered and it is a true pleasure to see them blossom and progress.