Fort Myers Beach Art Association Shows at Area Churches

Since the art association’s building was destroyed by Hurricane Ian, the Fort Myers Beach Art Association has found exhibit and meeting space with several area churches. Fort Myers Congregational United Church has provided meeting and painting space. The Church is located at 8210 College Pkwy. In Fort Myers.

The group’s Winter Show is on view thru January 30 at the First Presbyterian Church, located at 9751 Bonita Beach Rd. in Bonita Springs. The show, Finding Inspiration, will also help the arts group raise money for

M.C. Escher Exhibition at Naples Art Institute

rebuilding. For information about this exhibition, call the church at 992-3233.

The Bonita show, open to art association members, will run until Monday, Jan. 30. It can be seen during business hours. Call the church office at 992-3233.

Another art show will be hosted January 13-15 at St. John the Evangelist Church in Naples, located at 625 111th Ave. N. For information about the Fort Myers Art Beach Art Association, call 463-3909.

Rockabilly Festival at Seminole Casino

The Seminole Casino Hotel in Immokalee presents Rockabillaque Florida on January 21, with music starting at 11am. The all-day & night music festival is free and open to all ages.

Rockabillaque Florida celebrates mid-century and 1950s Americana, featuring musical acts from all over the country, a classic car and vintage bike show, pin-up, tattoo and beard & moustache contests, vendors and food trucks.

Squirrel Nut Zippers and Los Straitjackets headline the event, with national acts the

Legendary Shack Shakers, Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho-DeVilles, Eddie Clendening & the Blue Ribbon Boys, Lara Hope & the Ark-Tones, The Swayzees, Jane Rose & the Dead Ends, Jared Petteys & the Headliners, as well as regional acts The Patina Turners, Black Valley Moon, Little Sheba & the Shamans, and The Kreepy Tikis.

Classic cars and vintage bikes will be on display from 11am-4:30pm. There is a Friday night kick-off party at the Zig Zag Lounge and a VIP Pool Party on Sunday, with a vintage swimsuit competition, live music and more.

All concerts are free and held outdoors. Chairs are welcome. Coolers, backpacks and pets are not permitted. The Seminole

The Naples Art Institute is hosting the exhibition, ‘M.C. Escher: Reality and Illusion’, a rare privilege of examining first-hand 150 masterworks of Maurits Cornelis Escher one of the most iconic artists of the 20th century.

Drawn from the largest private traveling Escher collection in the world, the exhibition includes early figure drawings, lesser-known book illustrations, detailed Italian landscapes, the ‘tessellations’ for which he became famous, and several examples of his signature architectural fantasies in which stairways seem to go both up and down. His drawings of a pair of hands drawing and fish morphing into birds are familiar to most people.

M.C. Escher used his work to challenge perspectives, deftly exploring the relationships between art and science, reality and illusion, chaos and order, and logic and absurdity. Docent led tours are scheduled for Fridays January 6-February 10 at 1pm.

‘M.C. Escher: Reality & Illusion’ is on view thru February 12. The Naples Art Institute is open Monday- Saturday from 10am6pm, Thursday evenings until 9pm, and Sunday 11am-4pm.

‘Ding’ Darling Hosts Photo Contest for High Schoolers

The deadline to submit photographs for consideration for the 10th annual ‘Ding’ Darling –Theodore Cross High School Photography Contest is March 1. High school students in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Glades, and Hendry counties can compete for prizes that include a Canon digital SLR camera package, a one-year subscription to Adobe photography software, and a one-year family pass to all Florida state parks.

Digital image entries can be shot from any outdoor venue in the state of Florida. A writing component to the contest requires entrants grades 9- 12 to submit a 100-word description of the ‘moment’ captured and how it reflects what nature and wildlife mean to the photographer.

Students attending high schools in Lee, Collier, Hendry, Glades, and Charlotte counties in grades 9 through 12 may submit up to two photographs.

Images may be taken with any camera, including smartphones. Panoramic photos are not allowed. Filters, cropping, enhancements, and borders are permitted. However, adding any elements not existing in the original scene will not be allowed. Judging will consider technical excellence (sharpness, lighting, composition, exposure), creativity, and the explanation of photograph.

The contest’s namesake, Ted Cross lived part-time on Sanibel Island, marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; advised the Johnson and Nixon administrations on anti-poverty programs; played a prominent role in President Obama’s election; and created Birders United, a birding website that ranked legislators according to their record of bird protection support.

An exhibition of works by M.C. Escher is on view at the Naples Art Institute thru February 12.

Late in life, Cross indulged his love for birds and photography and often shot at J.N. ‘Ding’ Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel. A number of the images in his book, Waterbirds reflect his love for the refuge.

Guidelines and prize information are also posted at dingdarlingsociety.org/articles/ photo-contests.

Call the ‘Ding’ Darling Wildlife Society at 292-0566 for more information.

Classical Concerts at B.B. Mann

Internationally-acclaimed performers from the Ukraine, England and the United States will headline the five concerts planned for 2023 by the Fort Myers Community Concert Association. All performances begin at 7:30pm at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall on the Florida SouthWestern State College campus in Fort Myers.

schedule

January 8: New York

Philharmonic String Quartet, joined by American pianist Drew Peterson

January 16: The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine

February 7: A Celebration of

Hertz Arena

11000 Everblades Pkwy. Estero

948-7825

Jan 4: vs Greenville

Swamp Rabbits

Jan 7: vs Orlando Solar Bears

Jan 20: vs Savannah Ghost

Pirates

Jan 21: vs Savannah Ghost

Pirates

Jan 25: vs South Carolina

Stingrays

Jan 27: vs South Carolina

Stingrays

Jan 28: vs South Carolina

Stingrays

Feb 8: vs Jacksonville Icemen

Feb 10: vs Orlando Solar Bears

Feb 11: vs Orlando Solar Bears

Feb 22: vs Kansas City

Mavericks

Feb 24: vs Kansas City

Mavericks

Feb 25: vs Kalamazoo Wings

Mar 8: vs South Carolina

Stingrays

Mar 10: vs South Carolina

Stingrays

Mar 11: vs South Carolina

Stingrays

Mar 22: vs Newfoundland

Growlers

Mar 24: vs Newfoundland Growlers

Mar 25: vs Newfoundland Growlers apr 5: vs Jacksonville Icemen apr 12: vs Jacksonville Icemen apr 14: vs Atlanta Gladiators apr 15: vs Atlanta Gladiators

Song – the Classics to Broadway, a concert by Concerto Soloists Internationale with orchestra.

March 9: The English Chamber Orchestra

March 27: The Royal National Ballet Direct from the Republic of Georgia – Fire of Georgia, a performance that combines Georgian folk dances with modern choreography and costumes.

The Barbara B. Mann

Performing Arts Hall is located on the Florida SouthWestern State College campus at 13350 FSW Pkwy. in Fort Myers. Call 6934849 for information.

Paper Thin & Shadow Deep

Hiromi

Mizugai Moneyhun’s Hand-Cut Paper Works

THRU JUNE 18, 2023

Appleton Museum of Art

College of Central Florida

4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd. • OCALA 352-291-4455 appletonmuseum.org

Hiromi Mizugai Moneyhun’s three-dimensional cut paper pieces are the result of a multi-step process which produces art that is amusingly lighthearted and startlingly alive. Her most significant early influence was ‘ehon’, a general term given to Japanese picture books. With no formal art training, she has evolved a unique, homegrown artistic voice that combines traditional Japanese visual art forms with the super-modernity that is now found in all of Japan’s biggest cities.