Author: boost

On Friday, September 5 an exhibit opens at the Alliance for the Arts called “Modern Atelier: The Methods of Today’s Training.” The Modern Atelier (French for “school” or “workshop”) is an educational practice that attempts to revitalize some of the theories and methodologies of the European ateliers of the 18th and 19th century whose primary aesthetic was the pursuit of beauty through truthful depiction. This show is meant to be an exposition of one incarnation of the Modern Atelier and its students.

The show features work by six artists who are all alumni from the Grand Central Atelier in New York City, Carol Broman (FL), Todd Casey (MA), Carla Crawford (NY), Angela Cunningham (NC) Danny Grant (TX) and Gregory Mortenson (NY). The individual works included in the exhibit, many available for purchase, include preliminary drawings, color studies, transfer drawings and both monochromatic (grisaille) and color paintings that illustrate elements of the modern atelier methodology. This show is an opportunity to see the process of Atelier training in the masterful work of professional artists who have successfully applied their discipline to find beauty in the contemplation of their subjects.

The opening reception is Friday, September 5 from 5-7PM. It’s free and open to the public. Artist Carol Broman will hold a Gallery Walk & Demo at 10AM on Saturday, September 6. Tracy Owen Cullimore is in the Member Gallery during the Modern Atelier exhibit, and Martin Freling is in the Theatre Lobby.

The Alliance for the Arts’ monthly Member Gallery Book Club continues on Tuesday, September 16 from 6:30-8:30PM with a discussion of The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan. The Alliance Member Book Club is a monthly exploration of art-related literature. It’s one of the many benefits of membership at the Alliance for the Arts.

The Painted Girls is a heartrending, gripping novel set in belle époque Paris and inspired by the real-life model for Degas’s Little Dancer Aged 14 and by the era’s most famous criminal trials. Following their father’s sudden death, the Van Goethem sisters find their lives upended. Without his wages, and with the small amount their laundress mother earns disappearing into the absinthe bottle, eviction seems imminent. With few options for work, Marie is dispatched to the Paris Opéra, where she will be trained to enter the famous Ballet and meet Edgar Degas. Her older sister, Antoinette, finds employment—and the love of a dangerous young man—as an extra in a stage adaptation of Émile Zola’s Naturalist masterpiece L’Assommoir. Set at a moment of profound artistic, cultural, and societal change, The Painted Girls is a tale of two remarkable sisters rendered uniquely vulnerable to the darker impulses of “civilized society.”

Alliance individual memberships are $50 per year, families can join for $75 per year and college students can become a member for just $15. Membership benefits include 20% discounts on all classes & camps, FREE class Try It sessions and open studio sessions, discounts on concert and theatre tickets and special exhibition opportunities. Click HERE to become a member now.

Mark your calendar for Saturday, September 27 when the Alliance for the Arts will present its fall fundraiser, “aMUSEd,” which promises to entice and surprise attendees, and surpass last year’s Take a Nude Home extravaganza. Give homage to your muses and flirt with the processes of creation during this unique art party. Enjoy music, interactive art, amusing diversions, wandering muses and other titillating surprises. Dine on fine tapas from Southwest Florida’s best chefs. Explore, nurture & liberate your inner muse during this celebration of art and creativity. The amusement begins at 7PM. Tickets are $100 and are available online HERE or at the Alliance. Event proceeds benefit educational and outreach programs at the Alliance.

The evening is proudly sponsored by Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC), the Betty Bireley Foundation and Investor’s Security Trust, with media support from Florida Weekly, TOTI Media, Inc., Happenings Magazine and WGCU Public Media. The aMUSEd culinary sponsors include Caffé Toscano, Crave Culinaire, Gloria’s La Trattoria Cafe Napoli, Marker 92, Norman Love Confections, the Prawnbroker Restaurant Group, Webster’s Sauce Company, and the Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village. Additional support provided by FineMark National Bank & Trust, Gora McGahey Architects, Richard Prescott and Alliance Financial Group. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. For more information, call 239.939.2787 or click HERE.

The Fort Myers Film Festival presents a screening of the independent documentary Farewell to Factory Towns at the Alliance for the Arts on Friday, August 8 at 7:30 PM. The one-hour film centers on the former factory town of North Adams, Massachusetts, where a huge museum of contemporary art was seen as a key engine of economic development for the community. The film asks, “Can Art Save North Adams?” In doing so, it examines the role that the museum and the influx of artists in the community are playing economically and socially.

Through interviews and dynamic footage, the film looks at other key sectors in the community like the college and human service agencies. A wide range of interviewees include the last CEO of Sprague Electric (a “Fortune 500” company headquartered in North Adams, whose buildings now house the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art), the mayor of North Adams, high school students concerned about their future, social scientists and historians, union activists, a co-founder of a community garden, and artists new to the city.

The film includes newsreel footage, data and trends that point to the toll taken on other former factory communities from the events of the past 35 years. Since the financial crisis that hit in 2008, some of the broad questions that are raised in the film are quite germane to the rest of the country.

Doors will open at 7:00 PM. A $5 suggested donation supports educational programming at the Alliance. The Fort Myers Film Festival will also present a screening of the film Heroes for a Semester at the Alliance on Friday, September 12.

The Fort Myers Film Festival will be screening films every first Monday of the month, called TGIM, leading up to their 5th annual festival which will be held March 25-29, 2015 at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center, Alliance for the Arts and Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. Visit www.fortmyersfilmfestival.com for more information.

The Fort Myers Film Festival presents a screening of Pink Gold Rush, a production of WGCU Public Media, at the Alliance for the Arts on Friday, July 11 at 7:30PM. Awarded the People’s Choice Award at the 2014 Fort Myers Beach Film Festival, the one-hour documentary explores the history of shrimping in Southwest Florida, and the impact the industry has had on the region’s economy, development, and environment. It also explores the stories of the men and women on Ft. Myers Beach whose livelihoods are tied to this succulent crustacean.

Doors will open at 7:00PM. A $5 suggested donation supports educational programming at the Alliance. Join us as early as 5:30PM to view the new exhibit “Majestic Places / Majestic Faces” which opens that evening. The Fort Myers Film Festival will also present screenings of feature length independent films at the Alliance on Friday, August 8 and Friday, September 12.

The Fort Myers Film Festival’s 5th annual festival will be held March 25-29, 2015 at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center, Alliance for the Arts and Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. Visit www.fortmyersfilmfestival.com for more information.