Southwest Florida poets are invited to share their work at an open mic night on Oct. 26 from 7 to 9 p.m. designed to bring together different generations, styles and approaches to poetry. The event is free and open to poets of all ages and to those who simply enjoy soaking up spoken word, but a $10 suggested donation is encouraged to support future Alliance programming. Additional Poetry Open Mic Nights will be held on Jan. 25 and April 26.

Hundreds of pieces of artwork created by Alliance for the Arts members will fill the gallery walls during November during Small Works Exhibit: 200 Under $200. Coinciding with the onset of the holiday shopping season, this non-traditional art show features works of all mediums priced at $200 or less. All sales are “cash and carry,” meaning purchasers will get to take the piece with them when they buy it, instead of waiting until the end of the exhibit. This exhibit is kindly sponsored by Clif & Tina Parker.

The gallery will evolve as pieces disappear and the remaining pieces are repositioned. The opening reception is Friday, Nov. 3. Bonnie Bohn will be exhibiting in the member gallery. The Theatre Gallery will house works by Marcela Paz Soldan. The exhibit runs through Dec. 2.

For artists looking to participate, the Alliance invites its members to submit two (2) original 2D or 3D artworks for exhibit in the Gallery. All works must be for sale. This cash and carry exhibit will provide a shopping experience for art lovers of all kinds! Drop off Monday, November 14, 9AM-5PM.

Individual artist memberships are $55 and good for one year. Family memberships are $80.

Admission to the gallery is free, but a $5 suggested donation helps keep arts programming accessible.

BY ROGER WILLIAMS

AMY GINSBURG MADE multitasking look easy last week as she took phone calls, messages, door-knocking inquiries and the warm greetings of passing musicians all in stride — a stride that would help lift the Southwest Florida Symphony smoothly into its challenging schedule for fall, winter and spring two weeks early. “It’s like a roller coaster, and going up to the top of the hill is the hard part,” she said cheerfully.

An already demanding season kicks off with a Hurricane Irma Relief Benefit Fund Concert at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19. Musicians are traveling from as far as Miami to join Maestro Nir Kabaretti and concertmaster Reiko Niiya in solo performances (a rare opportunity to see then-maestro play.) This is good news not just for hurricane victims, not just for lovers and admirers of one of the best symphony orchestras in Florida, but good news for the economy.

The musicians are traveling and playing for free — their contribution. But downtown will likely fill with music lovers who will also visit restaurants and bars, wander into shops and in some cases even look to stay at a downtown hotel or elsewhere for a night.

The moment will be a vivid example of why the arts are so potent economically in any community, but especially in Lee County. “They’re integral in creating places,” says Lydia Black — “in creating communities, in bringing people together not only to share experiences and be informed and entertained, but we use the arts — music, dance, theater, visual arts — to help celebrate life. They define a community.” Ms. Black, the executive director of the Lee Alliance for the Arts, points to the most recent study by the national group, Americans for the Arts, that details or tracks the impact of every dollar spent in a community on the arts.

A Hurricane Irma Relief Benefit Fund Concert will take place with Reiko Niiya. COURTESY PHOTOA Hurricane Irma Relief Benefit Fund Concert will take place with Reiko Niiya. COURTESY PHOTO

“Here in Lee County the arts create jobs for almost 4,000 people and $140 million in economic activity every year,” she notes.

The report itself, called “Arts & Economic Prosperity5,” is an eye-opener of sorts. It looked at more than 340 communities nationwide and customized data in a large number of them, including Lee County.

Here, the study shows, the arts create $89.25 million in household income to residents, $7.57 million in revenue to local government, and $11.24 in revenue to state government.

Event-related spending is $106 million by those who go to an event, and each attendee spends an average of more than $31, in addition to ticket costs.

Part of this survey included asking 781 people attending events a variety of questions, the methodology shows. “Artists are considered entertainers — we go to a show, we see a band, we go to a gallery — and we take that for granted,” says Ms. Black.

“At the Sidney & Berne Davis Center, for example, they just brought in Second City from Chicago (the famous comedy group). They don’t get here often and people flock to it.”“But these other things — there’s a host of people behind the scenes, employing other people and they all spend locally.

Jim Griffith, a founder of the Davis Center downtown, is adding a rooftop restaurant and a recording studio among other advances in what has now become a downtown lodestar with tremendous gravity. “I like to think we have contributed to the rebirth of downtown,” he says — a comment he makes often, and always modestly, acknowledging with pride the Arcade Theater and others downtown.

The same is true of each art gallery, of each city event featuring music, of Barbara B. Mann Hall performances, of such special draws as the Fort Myers Film Festival and the theaters through Fort Myers and Lee County.

The Nickel Ride, a free transportation service operating throughout downtown Fort Myers, for example, has expanded the definition of downtown east past The Laboratory Theater on Woodford Avenue, which now offers sold-out and well-reviewed theater performances throughout season. Like Mr. Griffith, founder and director Annette Trossbach is also perhaps unduly modest about the effect of her organization and the arts on the city and county — on the people — around her.

“I want to think we’re part of a growing downtown and a culturally rich region — that we contribute to that,” she told Florida Weekly recently.

Does this create competition with other regions — with Naples, for example, where ARtis-Naples, with its art museum and symphony, is a significant draw to many Lee County lovers of culture?

“The more opportunities we have in the region to engage the community with arts, the better it is for all of us,” says Ms. Black. “All boats rise with the tide.

“If someone goes to the Southwest Florida Symphony, they’re more likely to go to Artis Naples or the Ringling Museum in Sarasota,” she said. “I think Lee in particular benefits from the work Collier County has done investing in its arts community. So I don’t see this as competitive. I see it as an opportunity for all the arts to be elevated. The sharing between arts organizations helps build communities and creates significant economic development.”

Back at the symphony offices, meanwhile, Ms. Ginsburg holds roughly the same view.

“The arts in general and the symphony in particular are a large part of how a community is regarded, based on the depth and breadth of the arts and culture it offers,” she says. 

And that’s worth money.

“The housing booms wouldn’t be what they are, the tourism dollars wouldn’t come in here — you go out to dinner and that’s an hour of your evening. People are looking for other things to do before or after that, and their spending flows into the community.” ¦

The Alliance  presents Arts & End Holiday Sale on Saturday, Nov. 11 from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Coinciding with the onset of the holiday shopping season, this event encourages purchasers to consider buying local art. The art sale will also feature activities throughout the day, including a community collaboration project, holiday card making, artist’s demos and live music.

Local artists will present and sell hand-crafted items in a wide variety of mediums and styles. The Alliance for the Arts gift shop currently features works from over 75 local and regional artists.

Featured artists include:

  • Alicia Schmidt (small paintings and ornaments)
  • Jayne Baker (jewelry, handmade candles, picture frames)
  • Lucia Garcia (jewelry, leather purses and bracelets)
  • Susan Mills (mixed media, purses, clothing, jewelry and furniture)
  • Doug MacGregor (books, CDs and prints)
  • Judith Stone (small framed artworks, mixed media pieces)
  • Jeff and Dale Ocasio (masking tape sculptures)
  • Union Artists Studios (small works, jewelry, mixed media works and paintings)
  • Marta Sicajan (beaded jewelry and purses)

11 a.m. Artists Carolyn Gora and Ava Roeder will be onsite for a collaborative community project
12 – 2 p.m. Holiday card making activity with artist Patty O’Kane
2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Live figure drawing artist demo with Francesco Gilla
5 – 7 p.m. Music with Rosada Project by Suzanne and Doug MacGregor

Arts & Ends Holiday Sale takes place during the Off the Wall Exhibit: 200 Pieces Under $200. This non-traditional art show features works of all mediums priced at $200 or less. All sales are “cash and carry,” meaning purchasers will get to take the piece with them when they buy it, instead of waiting until the end of the exhibit. The exhibit runs through Dec. 2.

“We hope that this event and exhibit encourages others to consider buying local art when shopping for gifts,” said Krista Johnson, exhibitions coordinator at the Alliance for the Arts. “Purchasing local art personalizes your shopping experience and helps stimulate the southwest Florida creative economy.”

Jonathan Tolins’s multicharacter megalogue—starring Florida Rep’s Kody  C. Jones —is an outrageous comedy about the price of fame, the cost of things, and the oddest of odd jobs.

Buyer and Cellar is a hilarious fictional account of one man’s experience working in the basement shops of Barbra Streisand’s home. Alex More, a struggling actor in L.A. takes a job working in the Malibu basement of the beloved megastar. One day, making a rare appearance, the Lady Herself comes downstairs to play.

Even if you don’t give a hoot about divas and divalogy – you’ll find yourself hopelessly involved in this simple, silly, sweet-and-sour story of people… who need people… enough to buy people.


What is your most treasured possession?

Kody C Jones: My most treasured possession is a tough one because its my dog and I consider her my daughter more than a possession. I’ve had her for almost ten years and she has been on this wonderful journey with me all over the U.S. ever since.


Why do a one-man show?

KCJ: The reason I did a one-man show is because I was looking for a challenge. I’ve done over a 100 plays and many of them were two person productions and I remember how challenging they were. Relying on just one other person to tell a story and transform an audience to another world. The thought of doing it alone seemed near impossible so I was hungry for the opportunity to try it.


Tell us a little about touring.

KCJ: Touring can be a lot of fun but its also a lot of work. It becomes a lifestyle of sorts. It changes your routine immensely including how you eat and exercise and how you spend your personal time. But its an amazing adventure and I couldn’t think of any better way to see new places and meet new people. Every audience is also different and their energy and reactions can change throughout a tour depending on what region you are in. That keeps you on your toes as an actor and changes it up for you during the show.


What is your greatest extravagance?

KCJ: My greatest extravagance is probably my obsession with Holiday decorations, specifically Christmas, Easter, and Halloween. I just love taking time out of the year to celebrate something and spend time with friends and family.


What playwright or actor would you most like to meet?

KCJ: An actor whose work I really honor and enjoy would have to be Benedict Cumberbatch. I actually took a course from him in London, England in 2006 before his fame really started to hit. He’s a very decisive and carefully actor, who uses his brain to its utmost potential with every single delivery. Being the character isn’t enough for him, he as the actor needs to understand the character and every complexity that character might exhibit.


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

KCJ: An all-expense paid gig? I’d go back to London. I studied theatre there for almost four months and loved the timeless and historic feel of the area and how theatre was not an extra hobby or art form that only a select few creative types might enjoy but a form of entertainment that was a major focus in that country. Citizens were united there in seeing it’s overwhelming benefits to its people, and not just for entertainment but an outlet for exploring humanity and asking ourselves questions about society and the world we live in.


What is your favorite one liner from Buyer & Cellar?

KCJ:My favorite line from Buyer and Cellar, towards the end of the play, Alex says “All that effort, All those things” referring to the massive collection in Barbara’s basement. I think this is a perplexing realization. We live in a world or society that constantly promotes the idea of obtaining more. Tangible items in particular, and obtaining the wealth to acquire such “things”. We become obsessed with getting and obtaining and forget about the process and not so tangible things we experience in life like failing, loving, and dreaming.


Performances for October 6-7 & 12-14 at 8pm. October 8 & 15 at 2 pm. Individual tickets to each show are $25, $11 for students or $22 for Alliance members. Ttickets for Thursdays and Fridays are buy one, get one 50% off using promo code IRMA.

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