NAVIGATOR LEADERSHIP ACADEMY HOSTED UNDER THE SEA ART SHOW

By Jane Owen

Plant City is a vibrant and growing downtown. Much of its charm is due to its hometown feel, but a lot also has to do with how the city partners with organizations and individuals to bring art to the downtown area.

The newest collaboration between Plant City Main Street, MAKE Plant City and the City of Plant city is called the Trash CanVas program. The first one is an art decorated trash dumpster located in a parking lot of of Palmer Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Plant City. The dumpster is part of an initiative to bring more public art to Downtown Plant City. The collaboration between Plant City Main Street, MAKE Plant City and the City of Plant City is a follow-up to the Electric Art Box project, which saw many of downtown’s electric boxes wrapped in vinyl artwork from a number of area artists.

The dumpster art is titled Always in Season. It features Florida-native flora and fauna painted by Courtney Dodson, a St. Petersburg visual artist. Dodson was selected from a pool of artists who responded to the project’s call for artists. Dodson’s bold colors and clean lines in her whimsical

“We were thrilled with the art community’s response to the Trash Can-Vas program,” said Arley Smude of MAKE Plant City. “With over 20 incredible submissions, it was another reminder of the vast, and pent-up, creative talent in the area,” added Smude.

“The Trash Can-Vas program adds a piece of unexpected beauty, which helps to make downtown a more interesting and vibrant place to walk, shop and enjoy,” said Dawn Hyatt, executive director of Plant City Main Street. “We are so appreciative of this collaboration to support the Downtown Vision Plan by adding public art,” added Hyatt.

MAKE Plant City is a nonprofit organization that aims to inspire and connect people for a more creative and dynamic community. For more information, follow them on Facebook.

Plant City Main Street is an afliate of a national network that wants to create high-quality places and build strong communities through preservation-based economic development. For more information, please visit www.plantcitymainstreet.org.

For more information on the City of Plant City, please visit www.plantcitygov.com.

On April 27, students and families from Navigator Academy of Leadership stepped out of the doldrums of life and into an Under the Sea Art Show experience.

The Under the Sea Art Show, spearheaded by Navigator’s elementary art teacher, Heather Adkins, featured artwork from every grade level (K-8), art-based activities in the cafeteria, local student-focused vendors and food trucks. The main feature of the night was the Glow Room that took over two months to create.

The Glow Room highlighted the unique animals in the oceans. Neon mediums — paint, crayons, oil pastels and markers — made the room come to life. Grade levels learned about various sea animals, such as sea turtles, jellyfish, puferfish and stingrays. Mixed-media art, made of everyday materials found at home and recycled materials, such as CDs, paper towel rolls and plastic bottles, were used to create the display.

Principal Rebecca Valdes said the art show provided a way to showcase the students’ art and allow them to be proud of their work.

“The art show is always a success and could not be possible without our teacher leaders guiding the way. This year, the showcase [of] the show was the Glow Room. It was an amazing room where all K-8 students joined together to create one work of art.” Valdes said.

According to Adkins, the inspiration of the art show was multifaceted. She teaches a love of art and how science and math can be part of it.

“Art is everywhere. My goal every day is to make art fun and engaging for my students as well as to see them see art in even the smallest things,” Adkins said. “My background is in math and science, so if there is any way to incorporate it, I do.”

Part of the mission of the Navigator Academy of Leadership is a cross-curricular integration of science, math, art, reading and technology. For the Under the Sea Art Show, students spent weeks reading and learning about maritime science and math elements like shapes, lines and symmetry.

The Navigator Academy of Leadership is located at 1101 Bloomingdale Ave. in Valrico. For more information, visit https://navigatoracademyvalrico.com/.