Selections From the Armory Art Center

August 26 through October 29
Member’s Preview and Annual Meeting: Thursday, August 25, 5:30-7:30 p.m. | See Event Photos

This exhibition features new or unseen work by 41 talented artists that are current faculty at the Armory Art Center.

After a group of inspired citizens saved the historic, art deco Armory building in West Palm Beach’s Flamingo Park neighborhood, the Cultural Council assisted in the founding of the Armory Art Center, which opened to the public in 1986. The Armory Art Center’s mission is to inspire the creation and experience of art.

The Armory provides art classes for students of all ages, exhibitions, art salons, lectures, youth art camps, outreach and special events. Nearly 100 courses held in 12 state-of-the-art studios are offered each year including ceramics, digital arts, drawing, glass fusing, jewelry, painting, printmaking, fibers, sculpture. In addition, several exhibitions are hosted annually in four galleries. armoryart.org

Image: Raymond Neubert, Fractured Nude, 2015, Felt-tip marker on foam board, 36 x 28 inches

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Call to Install

June 3 through July 30
Member’s Preview: Thursday, June 2, 5:30-7:30 p.m. | View Event Photos

Visual artists in The Palm Beaches are not limited to just creating art that hangs on the wall. They also think outside the frame to create site-specific artwork & work that is designed for a specific space. This art making process has been prevalent in the art world since the mid-1970s. Proposals for site-specific installations have been received from professional artists in the area and vetted for the Council’s main gallery space. Artists on display: Birds are Nice, Katelyn Spinelli, Nicole Galluccio and the Viridis Collective. Themes touched on are environmental, nostalgic and conceptual.

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Exclusive Wine Sponsor

Something Out of Nothing

March 25 through May 21
Member’s Preview: Thursday, March 24 | View Event Photos

Artists are constantly challenged to create something new or innovative, a piece that is provocative or simply representational, a work that moves the viewer, explores ideas, expresses beliefs, confronts a movement. “Something Out of Nothing” illustrates the diversity of 15 artists in Palm Beach County who have embraced these very concepts. Each artist in this exhibition was challenged to create a work specifically for this show or to display work that has recently been created and not yet exhibited. This exhibition is a testament to the creative process and the tremendous talent that is found within Palm Beach County.

Woman: Untitled

January 15 through March 12
Member’s Preview: Thursday, January 14, 5:30-7:30 p.m. | View Event Photos

The focus of this exhibition is to highlight women in various lights—socially, economically, politically, aesthetically and figuratively. Inspired by the desire to underscore the presence of women artists, the goal is to draw attention to the perspectives that women have on the world through art.

This show is featured in a multi-media platform that will spotlight 14 Palm Beach County artists. Painting, drawing, performance and photography are included in this exhibition. This exhibition also coincides with International Women’s Month that is celebrated every March. Curated by Raheleh Filsoofi, Sibel Kocabasi and Nichole M. Hickey.

Participating artists:
Linda Behar • Giannina Dwin • Nazare Feliciano • Misoo Filan • Soheila Ghodstinat • TD Gillispie • Naghmeh Goodarzi • Suzanne Khalil • Sarah Knouse • Dorotha Lemeh • Bonnie Seeman • Vicki Siegel • Deborah Walsh • Flora Zolin

#SHADESOFCULTURE

October 8 through November 12

Shades of Culture is a cultural tourism marketing program, movement and growing project conceived and managed by the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, with funding from the Tourist Development Council and Palm Beach County.

The arts are an expression of the creative spirit, a priceless gift we share with one another. When you support the arts you become part of an extraordinary exchange—one that sets The Palm Beaches apart. Our iconic sunglasses are a symbol for the arts, our community and our unique perspective on it all. They are a cultural call to arms. To be involved. To promote the arts in The Palm Beaches. To experience culture here that’s unlike anywhere else. Join the Movement »

Jordan Matter: Dancers Among Us

April 9 through June 4

Miami City Ballet teamed up with internationally acclaimed artist and photographer Jordan Matter on his latest collection of original photography of Miami City Ballet dancers on the sands, streets and skylines of Miami. Matter was selected as one of 2014’s “Top Emerging Artists” by Art Business News and is a New York Times bestseller for his work “Dancers Among Us,” a collection of photographs of dancers in everyday situations around the world. Miami City Ballet’s proceeds from this collaboration benefit the organization’s Career Transition Fund, which assists dancers who have devoted a significant portion of their careers to the company and to provide them with financial support as they move to the next stage of their lives and careers.

Dodie Thayer

February 20 through April 2

In the mid-20th century having Dodie Thayer’s “Lettuce Ware” in your collection was a status symbol and staple in the Palm Beach home. Collectors included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the Duchess of Windsor and C.Z. Guest, just to name a few. Due to designer Tory Burch, the “Lettuce Ware” line has become more accessible through a current re-issue for the everyday home. This exhibition will highlight the collection brought back to life in the 21st century.

Sandra Thompson

December 19 through February 13

Known for her quintessential paintings of Palm Beach, Sandra Thompson has had a love affair with Palm Beach since moving to the island in 1961. Struck by the coalescence of European architecture, winding vias, lush foliage, fountains, statues and walled entries, Thompson painted more than 300 island scenes, which is referred to as the “Palm Beach Collection.” The prolific artist paints almost daily. Thompson said that if she lived to be 250 and painted every day she could not capture all the glorious landscape that is Palm Beach. She has also explored capturing political scenarios which will also be featured in this exhibition.

Jeff Whyman: Resurrection of Innocence

Visitors to downtown Lake Worth can view Jeff Whyman’s installation of “Resurrection of Innocence” in the Cultural Council’s new Project Space adjacent to the Council’s headquarters.

This project is sponsored in part by the Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council of Arts and Culture and the State of Florida.

The Art of Dr. Seuss Preview

December 19, 2015 through January 14, 2016

For over 60 years, Dr. Seuss’ illustrations have brought a visual realization to his fantastic and imaginary worlds. However, his artistic talent went far beyond the printed page. The Cultural Council presents a special preview to the first-of-its-kind in Florida exhibition that will take place from January 17 through February 14 at The Gardens Mall in conjunction with the Ann Jackson Gallery of Atlanta, Georgia.

During the Gardens Mall exhibit, excerpts from the upcoming production of SEUSSICAL™ at Maltz Jupiter Theatre will be performed featuring talented young performers from South Florida. Performances and exhibition are free and open to the public. Exhibited artwork is available for purchase.

The Cultural Council preview will feature selected works from the Gardens Mall exhibit plus a costume sketch from SEUSSICAL™.

Fredi Cohen

December 17, 2016 through January 14, 2017

Fredi Cohen creates sculpture inspired by Women’s emotional evolution and connection to nature. For about a decade, she created sculpture built into both the exterior and interior of architecture, as well as carved furniture , doors and lighting.

She now has returned to her figurative roots, and creates free-standing sculptures and wall reliefs. A recent resident of Delray Beach, Florida, Cohen moved here from East Hampton, and NYC, NY, where she has received a majority of her accreditation to date. She has been featured in multiple, well-known magazines, newspapers, televised interviews, and even exclusive studio tour and interviews by Bloomberg News. She has exhibited nationally in solo and groups shows and continues to create works in multiple mediums-from bronze to glass to stoneware clay.

Image: Woman-Child, 2009, Hydrocal, 11 x 13 inches

Moneta

December 17, 2016 through January 14, 2017

Born in Germany after World War II to Holocaust survivors, Moneta now practices her art in Delray Beach, Florida. She is a self taught artist who works in steel, ink on paper plein air and large abstract paintings. Moneta was included in a Woodstock Artists Association and Museum exhibition and won “Best in Show” in 2012 and she has shown at the Javits Center in New York as well as during Art Basel Miami. Moneta’s work is housed in multiple public and private collections throughout the country. She is currently working in collaboration with a prominent builder in Georgia on a large installation of her abstract paintings. monetaart.com

Image: Untitled, from the Love series, 2016, mixed media, 60 inches diameter

Tina Kraft

November 12 through December 10

Living in South Florida for the last three decades, Tina Kraft received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Florida Atlantic University in 1999. She went on to study under Graham Nickson, Dean of the New York Studio School and moved to New York City in 2010 to receive a Master of Fine Art degree from NYSS in 2012. Kraft looks to the history of painting as a catalyst, using the influence of the Masters to inform her present day work. Since returning home, Kraft has focused her attention on painting the lush landscapes of South Florida as well as trips to Italy, London and New York to work from a different terrain or visit great works of art. Kraft has shown in numerous exhibitions from New York to Florida to California. tinakraft.com

Image: Mangroves Overlooking the Waterway, 2016, Oil on linen, 18 x 22 inches

Renée Plevy

November 12 through December 10

Renée Plevy was part of the vibrant New York art scene in the 80s with a studio at 41 Union Square. During that time she was teaching and studying at the School of Visual Arts and the Art Students League. She has been in 65 gallery shows including an exhibition at Lincoln Center, had a solo museum show at the Patterson Museum in NJ, and was awarded “Artist of the Year” through the Bloomfield Art Group. In 2012 she founded the Portrait of the Woman Palm Beach Luncheon. She has painted and unveiled 23 oil portraits in that time honoring prominent Palm Beach County women community leaders while also benefiting Quantum House. Renée’s oil paintings capture the souls of the people and animals she paints. Her works are in international private and corporate collections. Renée does private commissions of both people and pets as well as teaches privately. reneeplevy.com

Image: Excursion, 1998, Oil on canvas, 24 x 48 inches

Jane Ehrlich

October 8 through November 5

Working with extremes, stark contrasts and atypical materials, Jane Ehrlich paints canvases that show movement as well as rigidity. A painting, for her, is all about the negotiation of complex elements. She creates a controlled flow suspended in time. Her white paint is derived from Gofun, a pigment of aged, pulverized oyster shells traditionally used in Japanese painting. It is then binded with glue to affix to the support medium. Ehrlich studied at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and The Brooklyn Museum School. She has exhibited nationally and spends her time in Hudson, NY and West Palm Beach, FL. janeehrlichart.com

Image: 2column/blueline, 2015, mixed media, 48 x 26 inches

Bob Birkenes

October 8 through November 5

Boca Raton resident Bob Birkenes received his BFA in Advertising and Design from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. His international award-winning advertising background is extensive — including the original Kellogg’s TV commercials (“L’Eggo My Eggo®”) — and includes creating TV, print and packaging communication for many Fortune 500 companies. Birkenes now focuses on his painting as well as serving as Delray Art League’s Chairman of Indoor Art Exhibits. His latest series, “Fantasies in Space,” showcases his abstract expressionistic style and his interpretation of the exquisite beauty that is found in outer space. fineartamerica.com/profiles/robert-birkenes.html

Image: Nova Concerto, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 20 inches

Artistic Visions: Women in the Visual Arts

August 20 through October 1

Women In The Visual Arts (WITVA) is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to support professional women artists in South Florida. Founded in 1989, WITVA strives to share the visual arts with our community and to sponsor student artists with scholarships and awards. This juried exhibition will feature 24 current members and will include oil paintings, photography, mixed media, acrylics, pastel, watercolors and jewelry. A portion of all sales will go to benefit the WITVA college scholarship fund.

Jim Rigg served as juror for this exhibition. Mr. Rigg is a graduate of Wichita State University with a Fine Arts degree in graphics and currently teaches at the Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery & School of Art in Tequesta.

Image: Karen H. Salup, In the Spirit of Abstraction I, 2016, Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 inches

Pupils, Poetry and Pictures: A Robert Forbes Mentorship at CCE

June 11 through August 6

In collaboration with the Center for Creative Education (CCE), this exhibition features middle school student art created under the mentorship of renowned children’s book author Robert Forbes and CCE teaching artist Craig McInnis. In this ten week after-school course, students from Rosarian Academy, BAK Middle School of the Arts and Crestwood Middle School created original poetry and illustrations. An anthology of their poetry and illustrations will be for sale at the exhibition.

Alyssa di Edwardo

May 7 through June 4

Abstract expressionist painter Alyssa di Edwardo synthesizes landscape into highly gestural compositions of strength and vulnerability. Her masterful use of color and intuitive palette have earned comparison to Joan Mitchell, Willem de Kooning and Cecily Brown. Her work has been extensively exhibited and collected both domestically and abroad. di Edwardo currently works from her studio in West Palm Beach and is represented exclusively in London. This solo exhibition showcases di Edwardo as the first recipient of the Dina Baker Fund for Mature Artists, which helps stabilize and strengthen the careers of female artists of a certain age who reside and/or work in Palm Beach County. alyssadiedwardo.com

Kerry Eriksen

April 2 through 30

Primarily a self-taught artist, Kerry Eriksen began seriously developing her art in 1975. She believes the practice of plein air painting is essential to being a great artist. Eriksen was introduced to plein air painting a decade ago with master artist Rick Howell of Mogote, Colorado. There she spent many hours in the San Juan mountains pursuing the art of painting out of doors. Eriksen considers herself to be a contemporary impressionist painter and spends many hours painting the natural beauty of the Florida Everglades as well as the southeastern coastal regions of Florida. kerryeriksen.com

Genie Fritchey

April 2 through 30

For Genie Fritchey, experience is the most important part of the artistic process. Fritchey finds that her creative experience is a natural response established over decades of working with paint on canvas in combination with her studies under Ted Vassar and Richard Schneider. Often working organically, she creates canvases that lend to an abstract expressionistic familiarity. The relation of the work to the viewer is as important to the process as the two together create the full sensory experience. Fritchey has exhibited throughout South Florida and is represented by various galleries nationally. geniefritchey.com

Raheleh Filsoofi

February 27 through March 26

Raheleh T. Filsoofi received her MFA in ceramics from Florida Atlantic University in 2014. She moved to United States in 2003 and worked with several renowned American ceramic artists on public art projects in Coral Springs and Miami. Raheleh’s work is steeped in a sense of cultural memory and displacement and the way in which people construct identity through sight and sound. Her art extends to a variety of media, including photography and printmaking, and through the use of sounds, music, physical objects and video she narrates stories of individual and collective experience. She also engages in field research that documents the state of traditional and contemporary ceramic art in Iran today and in particular the role that women play. rahelehfilsoofi.com

Sibel Kocabasi

February 27 through March 26

Sibel Kocabasi’s work is distinctive for its combination of Turkish traditional art technique with a contemporary willingness to experiment, constantly testing new ideas and techniques. Her work uses decorative patterns and social/cultural references to achieve a balance of contrasting elements, emphasizing simultaneously the beauty and misfortune of humanity’s impact on nature.

Her recent work focuses on relevant contemporary social issues. It is heavily inspired by the suppression of female identity and the later awakening of feminine power and the confidence to create ones identity.

Kocabasi is the recipient of the 2010 South Florida Cultural Consortium’s Visual and Media Artists Fellowship and the 2006 Hector Ubertalli Visual Arts Award. Her work is in numerous private collections as well as The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum in Miami, Florida. She is represented by JF Gallery in West Palm Beach FL and Bethesda Fine Art in Maryland. sibelkocabasi.com

Jo Ann Nava

January 23 through February 20

The relationship between humans and animals is both interwoven and reflective. We are finding more complexities and empathies in the interactions of animals. When a crow dies the birds in its flock gather with acknowledgement. Similarly, a rat will pass his favorite treat in favor of releasing a trapped companion. These displayed compassions compare and in some cases surpass the human heart. They do not benefit from self-gratification.

“Bad Children Blessed Beasts” is a collection of multimedia sculptures and paintings that depict the most innocent of human beings, our children, as mischievous and somewhat dark in their pleasure. In contrast, the collection presents birds and beasts in reverent harmony with their innate intent. Jo Ann Nava’s work can be seen in the permanent locations of Voyageurs National Park, Virginia Tech Outsider Art Gallery and in many private collections. joannnava.com

Ellen Liman

January 23 through February 20

Recent, colorful, large oil paintings using complex arrangements of flowers and objects will be shown at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County January 23 through February 20, 2016. Created in Liman’s West Palm Beach studio, the paintings are not merely traditional still lifes of beautiful flowers as she uses them as a “jumping off” point to explore their unique arrangements in space, their intense color relationships and various textures of paint. Liman’s “experiments” are influenced by the colors in a Bonnard, the shapes and structure in a Cezanne, the idiosyncratic perspectives in David Hockney and the fine brush strokes in the action painting of Franz Kline.

Liman studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, Columbia, The Art Students League, The National Academy of Design and with individual painters. She has exhibited nationally and her paintings are in many private and corporate collections. Liman is also owner of the Liman Gallery located at the historic Paramount Building in Palm Beach. ellenlimanartist.com

Bernice Harwood Retrospective

December 19 through January 16

Bernice Harwood has a history of artistic accomplishments starting at a young age. She attended the McDowell School of Art and Hofstra University later attending Hofstra University where she ultimately became an art teacher. Harwood studied print making at Pratt Graphic Center and the Ruth Leaf Studio. Working with multiples is an exciting challenge for her as she enjoys the spontaneity in the use of textures and vibrant colors to create abstract forms. Harwood has won multiple awards for her work and has exhibited extensively in museums and galleries. This Boynton Beach resident is represented in many private, public and corporate collections.