Year: 2017

The Alliance for the Arts May exhibition Pushing Boundaries: Art Quilters Unlimited opens May 5 from 5-7 p.m. The exhibit continues until May 26. Meet exhibiting artists during a conversational walk and talk as they discuss their works on May 6 at 10 a.m.

During this exhibition, Nancy Goodenow impressionistic and abstract works will be on display in the Member Gallery and landscape painter Richard Stanton will be on display in the Theatre Gallery.

“Fiber art is a unique way to exchange ideas,” says exhibitions coordinator Krista Johnson. “Throughout time, different cultures everywhere have been, and still are, weaving and sewing.”

Art Quilters Unlimited is an active creative group of contemporary fiber artists in southwest Florida. The group creates fine art wall hangings based on their experiences, imagery and ideas rather than traditional patterns. Techniques include machine and hand threadwork, shibori and discharged fabric treatments, painted surfaces, 3-D assemblages, wall sculptures and mixed media.

The Alliance for the Arts is initiating a new campaign highlighting members who are creative. We are reaching out to poets, painters, playwrights – those who work with scores, scripts, stitches – favor Arp, Arbus, Atwood – or love pencils, plays, or pianos.

Fay Graetz is a Playwright, a member of the Alliance for the Arts and a founding Alliance book club member. We are proud to introduce her. Her play Affirmation will be presented April 15th at 3 pm as part of the Theatre Conspiracy’s Play Reading Series. Learn a little bit more about Fay through our Mini-Proust Questionnaire.

With all expenses paid to pursue your writing, where would you choose to live and work next summer?

So kind of you to offer!  New York City. 

If you didn’t write, what would you like your creative outlet to be?

I’d love to have a lovely singing voice and warble to my heart’s content.  It must be wonderful fun belting it out with a band or orchestra.  Otherwise, any creative outlet that doesn’t require “plot.”   Is cheese-making creative?  I love cheese.

 What playwright, living or dead, would you have liked to meet and what would you ask him or her?

Shakespeare! For starters, I’d ask, with due respect, “Did you really write all that?” And, “Do you have any other hobbies?”

What is your greatest extravagance?

My Big-Spender Husband.  If it wasn’t for him, I’d be living like a pauper with a mattress stuffed with cash.  He’s got “spending vision.”  And good taste.  So, that’s a good thing

What is your most treasured possession?

My husband’s paintings.

What would you like the title of your autobiography or the title of your biography to be?

Fay Ellen Graetz: How a Small-town Girl Saved the Planet

What trait do you most value in a friend?

Generosity.

What historical person do you most identify with?

Does Annie Hall count?  This is a tough.  There are zillions of historical people and more every day.  The word “identify” makes me cautious; but, I’ll give it a try, with the utmost humility. 

I’m going with a combination of Eleanor Roosevelt and Phyllis Diller, for the obvious reasons.  They marched on with or without Franklin and Fang. (Fang!)  And because I love people and story-telling and learning about other cultures and languages:  add Margaret Meade into the mix.

What do you like most about yourself?

I’m very patient.

If, or when, you become wildly famous, where would you most want to present your work?

See #1 above.   Broadway, baby!

Fay Graetz is a playwright and member of the Theatre Conspiracy Playwrights of Fort Myers and the Dramatists Guild of America. “On the Hard” (two acts) was produced in 2008 at the Purple Heart Theatre in Fort Myers and a staged reading of “Wind Farm” (two acts) occurred in 2014 and was a semi-finalist of the 2015 Ashland New Play Festival. In addition she has received fiction awards from Florida Weekly and Gulf coast Writer’s Association and was awarded a seat at the Gulf Coast University Sanibel Writer’s Conference in 2008 and 2012.

Learn More About Affirmation by Fay Graetz

The Proust Questionnaire has its origins in a parlor game popularized (though not devised) by Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that, in answering these questions, an individual reveals his or her true nature.

I believe it is important to support live theater in Florida. We must get tickets and get out of the house and go. Your kids and grand kids need to know live theater.

There is a perfect “must see” on a local stage right now.  It is a  World Premier at the constantly experimental Theatre Conspiracy in Fort Myers. The artistic director, Bill Taylor, has found a play totally worthy of our attention. It is called, The Cave, by Jeff Lindsay.

The time is near the end of the Civil War. We meet a young African American runaway slave girl, Cassie, played by a fine young actress, Marie Baptiste.   Cassie  is trying to read the Bible, never having been to school. She knows enough to phonetically struggle.  And, suddenly, a badly wounded Confederate soldier breaks through the hole in her hideaway cave.  The soldier, Brandon, strongly portrayed by Jordan Wilson, has been blinded in battle, tattered and torn, and near collapse.  The plot thickens when a young Union soldier who has deserted his unit bursts into the cave.  It is a powerful evening and a fine example of great local community live theater.    Get tickets fast.

Sidney B. Simon, Sanibel
from The News-Press Mailbag for April 2

This program is supported by Suncoast Credit Union, Cape Coral Community Foundation and the Sylvia Meisenberg Trust.

The Alliance for the Arts, in partnership with Family Initiative Inc., continues weekly art classes for young artists with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in April and May. The program, ArtPlay, is designed to engage children with ASD in the arts while focusing on identity development, self-awareness, self-esteem, social communication and building positive coping skills.  The project has garnered support from Suncoast Credit Union, Cape Coral Community Foundation, and the Sylvia Meisenberg Trust.

“We are proud to partner with our friends at Family Initiative to expand art opportunities and promote mental and emotional growth for young artists with autism,” says Alliance for the Arts executive director Lydia Black.  “Through the creative process, we allow people to explore and express themselves while building valuable life skills.”

ArtPlay classes, designed for young artists under 18, are taught by a certified art therapist and supported by an Accredited Behavioral Analyst.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with the Alliance for the Arts to offer this program for children on the autism spectrum,” says Family Initiative Inc. president David Brown. “This program offers a unique opportunity that would otherwise not be available for children to develop friendships and engage in creative fun activities in a supportive environment.”

ArtPlay classes are Thursdays from 4:30 – 6 p.m. Session one is April 13, 20 and 27. Session two is May 4, May 11, May 18 and May 25. The program takes place at the Alliance for the Arts.

The cost is $10 per class, which includes art supplies. Pre-registration is required. Students must respond to verbal direction, independently toilet, and not require one-on-one supervision.