Bart celebrated it’s two year anniversary in style.

Posted on by Thor

Bart (1205 N Mills Ave, Orlando, Florida) is a small pub on Mills. It features local art, play some classic arcade games and of course craft beer. The two year anniversary party was held on August 29th of 2014 at the

Orange Studio next door which was rented to make room for more arcade cabinets and pinball machines. Many of the local artists who have shown their amazing art on Bart’s walls donated pieces for a silent auction to benefit A Gift For Teaching. Also, a collaborative art piece was painted during the event by Parker Sketch and then auctioned off live.

Soul Brother Kevin and Angel from SBK Live filled the air with music throughout the evening. This event was free. There was a supply drive set up for A Gift For Teaching as well as the auction. If you brought in school supplies we will reward you with a wristband good for happy hour all night!

I sketched the long line of arcade games and pin ball machines that had been brought in for the event.  Game play was free. When my sketch was done, I tried my hand at a game of Space Invaders. I should have pretty good eye hand coordination, but within minutes I had been blasted to pieces. I dusted myself off and tried again only to meet the same sure weightless death. That was enough for me. I stopped over to see the huge painting that Parker was working on. He slaps down paint as fast as I sketch and he was pretty far along in completing the five foot high canvas.

Voci Dance presented Whisper-Roar at the Orange Studio.

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On September 5th and 6th Voci Dance presented Whisper-Roar at The Orange Studio, 1121 N Mills Ave, Orlando, Fl. V Whisper/Roar was two collaborative evenings of modern dance, music,film, costume couture and installation art. The collaborators were Voci Dance, DJ Nigel John, Tamara Marke. 

Admission: was $15 at the door.

Wine was available as well as lite bites from Happy Chow.

The most unique feature of the space was a huge sculpture that consisted of wooden slats that were all interconnected by bolts. This sculpture by artist Mario Shambon looked like it was articulated. Had any section moved, it would affect every other section. Yellow florescent lights were also suspended throughout the space. I arrived early when the dancers were just warming up. A black and white video was projected on the far wall. In the video the dancers stood in a line, erect like soldiers.

The audience became an integral part of the space as they filtered in. Dancers might coach a few people to move forward but in general there was no set stage that separated the audience from the dance. Several free standing doors were also set pieces for one of the dances. My favorite dance number involved one dancer, Leah Marke, shedding multiple layers of robes and light frilly fabric covered with words. A bold spotlight illuminated her from the side. It was as if she were shedding layers of judgement or self criticism. An aluminum staircase on wheels was rolled in slowly by a procession of dancers. The dance ended with her ascension to the top of the stairs and then the room blacked out.

While sketching I felt like I was trying to capture fleeting gestures against a stark industrial setting. The strong verticals implied in the black and white video strengthened that premise.

The Solution

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The Solution was an artist collective exhibition held at the Orange Studio ( 1121 N Mills Ave, Orlando, Fl)
on April 4th.
The show represented 6 Different perspectives, 6 different backgrounds, and 6 unmistakable voices in one venue were brought together to show that our differences unite us. These ambitious artists were given no restrictions and total creative control of the 4000 square foot venue. They intended to avoid the feeling of small stale claustrophobic galleries that display limited art styles. The artist invited the public to ignite their senses and experience art in a large open environment coupled with local musical acts, modern dance and local fashion designers. The goal was to showcase the overwhelming creative talent in Orlando and bring together all these different crowds. The exhibition was free and open to the public but only for one night.

 When I arrived about an hour early, the exhibition was still being hung. One exhausted artist was asleep on a couch. Several of the paintings by Genevieve DeMarco on the far wall refused to be hung. A ladder was used to hang one of the expressive paintings high on the wall and when the ladder was put away the painting crashed to the floor. The hot paintings of Natasha Brockman were expressionistic in style. One painting had a woman holding a bird cage which was open, allowing the birds to fly off towards a blazing sunset. Natasha sat at the computer likely firing off last minute invites or checking to see who was coming to the show. Other artists included, Victorious Fidelis,
Marcela Rivera,Yve Illz Tbg.

Loose spiraling figurative wire sculptures depicted what I imagined to be dancers. A romantic couple titled “Compromise” by Jamile B. Johnson, held hands while their intestines spiraled free from their severed torsos. They didn’t seem to mind. A DJ set up her station on the white seamless photo corner. As I was finishing my sketch people began to fill in the space and move their hips. Thin fashion models were in the green room being made up. The place was jumping.

Cardboard Art Festival

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On Friday January 24th, I went to TheDailyCity.com Cardboard Art Festival at The Orange Studio, (1121 N. Mills Ave., Orlando, FL.) This was the second year of the Festival and it was bigger and better than ever. The first thing I explored was an interactive wall by Nathan Selikoff. Cardboard tube gutters could be re-arranged on a pegboard to create a gravity maze for colorful wiffle balls. A large cardboard funnel at the top of the wall was always the starting point and it was high enough so you always had to throw the ball up. I missed the shot more than a few times and had to scramble as the ball rolled around on the floor.

Evan and Christie Miga created a huge storybook interactive display that told of an adventure using a series of dioramas and sculptures. There was a large cardboard octopus and a girl riding an immense bird. The wings could be flapped by turning a delicate crank. A moving street scene was depicted in one diorama that had a magnifying lens to amplify the view as you traveled down the street. The illusion was complete when you turned a cardboard tube that represented the street. There was even a Zoetrope that used a cardboard tube with slits in it that when spun, created the illusion of motion from a series of images inside the tube.

Doug Rhodehamel had a large collection of small cardboard robots on display. Nicki Equality Drumb and Rachel Equality Gardner had blue and pink male and female stand up photo ops set up with equality hearts. With supplemental blue mustaches and pink ribbons, everyone wanted their picture taken. Beautiful women wearing couture cardboard dresses strutted through the crowd. John Glassman Gardner was taking pictures of people that he then pasted in the windows of cardboard skyscrapers. Jeff Ferree created four foot tall Gumby like cardboard creatures that were quirky and brightly colored. It was a fun colorful show and once people started drinking and dancing, the place lit up. If you didn’t go, you missed a hell of a good time.