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Rosemary Beach Foundation
10th Annual Rosemary Beach Unleashed TM Dog Festival
Rosemary Beach Unleashed celebrated its 10th anniversary on Nov. 22, 2020 with another fun tail-wagging afternoon filled with festivities for two and four-legged friends.
Presented by Rosemary Beach Foundation, the event was held on St. Augustine Green and included a pet parade, dog contests, music and a silent auction that benefited Alaqua Animal Refuge. Pet families donated to feature these favorite furry friends on this year’s event posters.
Rosemary Beach Foundation recently presented Alaqua with a $10,000 check from the event proceeds. Thank you to the McConnell Family, Disco and the many supporters, vendors, volunteers and attendees.
“We look forward to this event every year. It is one of our most festive fundraisers where people can bring their animals and visit with friends, and meet new ones,” said Alaqua Founder Laurie Hood. “We are incredibly appreciative of the ongoing support from the Rosemary Beach Foundation. Our partnership truly helps us save more lives and give more second chances to animals in need.”
ABOUT ROSEMARY BEACH FOUNDATION
Rosemary Beach Foundation offers and supports educational programs, community events and charitable activities for residents and visitors of Rosemary Beach and Walton County Florida. Through these efforts, Rosemary Beach Fundation has donated over $900,000 to local organizations, schools, hurricane recovery recovery, and COVID relief efforts. To learn more, please visit www.rosemarybeachfoundation.org.
ABOUT ALAQUA ANIMAL REFUGE
Alaqua Animal Refuge is the Southeast’s premier no-kill animal shelter and sanctuary, located in Freeport, Florida. Alaqua believes that every abused, neglected and homeless animal deserves a second chance. Alaqua is currently in the midst of a relocation and expansion capital campaign to build a one-of-a-kind facility—the first in the United States—on 100 donated acres. Learn more at www.Alaqua.org.
Photo credit: Michael Nobile
Calliloo
Colbie
Kensey Carly Jane
Groucho
Kirby
Oscar
Roux Cassie
Henry
Koady Charlie
Jade
Lulu
Otto Pete
Ruby Sadie Chief
Jelly Roll
Lyndon
Phyllis
Satchmo
Caring About Tomorrow:
by Heidi Travis
We are connected. Even in this tumultuous, unprecedented time in history, we are bound by a common thread. In our families, our workspaces, local communities, and on a national and global scale, what we do affects one another. The world is a grand, sprawling mosaic of shared space and experience.
And that is exactly what the planners of the Rosemary Beach Sculpture Exhibition want you to take away this year. The third biennial Rosemary Beach Sculpture Exhibition (RBSE) comes with a theme this time, “Caring About Tomorrow: Exploring Environmental Interdependence Through Public Art.” The yearlong exhibition, which runs from September 4, 2021, through September 5, 2022, will feature sculptures that illustrate the delicate balance of human and environmental coexistence.
“Our environment encompasses all our surroundings—living and nonliving—and the health of all the components of the environment are inextricably intertwined. When unbalanced, we feel unsteady, unhealthy, and disoriented. We are mutually interdependent,” said RBSE committee member Marsha Aldridge King. “Conversely, we see positive impacts of our relationships—one creature benefiting another through initiatives to protect and rescue our wild, domestic, and endangered animal and marine life; recycling, repurposing, reusing, and refusing single-use plastics; supporting policy-makers who commit to protecting our environment; participating in trash removal drives; growing community gardens; building walkable communities, and investing in clean energy production—leading to improved health, harmony, and well-being,” King said.
This isn’t the first time the RBSE committee has considered an environmental theme. RBSE committee chair, Thomas Kramer, who first got the idea to bring the sculpture exhibition to Rosemary Beach while attending one in a little town in South-Eastern France, said that it has been something they have wanted to do since the inception of the exhibition.
“We’ve always wanted to do a theme, but we were afraid that this theme would narrow the number of sculptors that would be interested,” Kramer said.
As it is, sculptors are not necessarily bound to the theme. Submissions outside of the theme may be included for consideration. “Throughout history, it is the artists who hold up the mirror to our humanity and reflect the world not only as it is, but as it could be.”
compelling theme. Last year’s Lionfish sculpture created by the students at Ohana Institute was a favorite. Entitled Invasive, the massive sculpture is fashioned out of debris from the Gulf and puts a spotlight on the detrimental effects of single-use plastics on our delicate ecosystems.
But the idea of interdependence and connectivity does not end with the exhibition. Art is just one language the locals use to tell their stories. In truth, Rosemary Beach itself is a microcosm of this theme in play. The local community of this Neo-Traditional town has its own culture and commerce. Furthermore, the sculpture exhibition goes a step further to educate the public as much as entertain. Whether it be through what the sculptures aim to teach us—the effects of our actions on the tenuous health of our planet—or through the budding partnerships this project has begun to nurture, education is at the forefront. Case in point, the committee is currently planning K-12, Collegiate, and Adult educational programming.
Committee member Alisa Ghazvini laid out the exciting new course.
“Our vision includes introducing more students in Walton County to outdoor sculptures, and we are excited about providing opportunities for children to consider the environment in artistic creation. In addition to planning opportunities for inperson and virtual tours, we are working with faculty from Florida State University and Flagler State College to develop curriculum and activities that can be shared with Walton County Schools and art and science teachers. We anticipate that student projects will be produced,
The exhibition and the upcoming partnerships are made possible through contributions by many generous donors in and out of the Rosemary Beach community.
“The Rosemary Beach Sculpture Exhibition (RBSE) has been designated the Signature Event of our community of Rosemary Beach and would not be possible without the generous support and donations of our many Homeowners, neighbors, and the 30A community,” committee member Linda Gifford said.
“So many have answered the call over the last two exhibitions to provide financial support or in-kind contributions to help the event move forward and get bigger and better,” she said.
The exhibition was originally scheduled for May 31, 2021 but was delayed due to COVID-19 concerns. Kramer says he feels confident that the new date will accommodate these concerns. The panel discussion and donor party will be held outdoors where mask-wearing and social distancing can be easily managed.
The sculptures are spread throughout the town and can be viewed in a “come as you please” fashion. However, guided tours will be held once a week starting this fall.
For those who still have concerns or who simply cannot make the drive, the exhibition can be viewed virtually on the RBSE website. Additionally, descriptions of the sculptures by the artists themselves will be available in audio format using the free smartphone app, “Otocast.” As for what the future may bring, Kramer means to forge even more connections going forward, bringing communities from surrounding areas into the fold “Our hope is that other communities up and down 30A avenue will say, ‘maybe we ought to all get involved in this.’ So maybe we can spread this to other neighborhoods. I think there is a possibility for that and it’s not going to be this year, but maybe next year, or the next one,” he said.
In the end, the connections forged through this project go far beyond the borders of Rosemary Beach. The project speaks to the world at large. King puts a fine point on it.
“Throughout history, it is the artists who hold up the mirror to our humanity and reflect the world not only as it is, but as it could be. Amid this time of revelation and reevaluation of the state of our world, we look to the tender and concerned hands of the sculptor for expressions of hope and wisdom in the creation of a more sustainable world in order to protect our health and the health of our planet for generations to come,” she said.
For more information about the exhibition, how to enter a sculpture, or how to donate, visit the Rosemary Beach Sculpture Exhibition website at www. rosemarybeachsculpture.com.
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