Menu Exhibit Statement
You would be hard-pressed to find a gathering as richly varied as ours in SWFL. We are shaped by different histories, generations, cultures, and faiths—threads from many places woven into one shared space.
We are artists who move through distinct mediums, styles, and themes. For us, the spirit of inclusivity is simple: to give each person the freedom to create in a way that is true to their own voice.
The richness of our collective experience is not something we place at the center of conversation, though it quietly colors everything we share. A discussion about food might carry Dominick’s memories of childhood meals in France. A film set in Japan might stir Diana’s reflections on growing up there as an international student. Yet rarely does our range of backgrounds become the focal point. Instead, it lives gently beneath the surface—an unspoken understanding that what makes each of us distinct is something to be honored. We celebrate those differences not as divisions, but as gifts, and we support one another’s authentic expressions of art and self.
This exhibition reflects who we are—individually and together. And in it, we honor the many perspectives that shape us.
________________________________________________________
Brief History
The Union Artist Studios was founded by David Acevedo and Xavier Brignoni in 2012. The multi-studio space, located on the second floor of the Edwards Building, became the only organized artist studio space in southwest Florida – and soon becoming an integral part of the art scene of our city. Many artists have occupied studio space in “the Union” and many others have collaborated in events, discussions, classes and more. Today, the group has expanded to incorporate an art café and a cooperative art gallery; creating an Art Triad on the corner of McGregor and Colonial boulevards. On the east side of the Edwards, Arts & Eats Café opened its doors in 2021 and quickly became a hub for artists and coffee lovers alike. DAAS CO-OP Art Gallery, housed on the west side of the building, joined the triad in 2024. There are 23 active member artists in the Art Triad.
________________________________________________________
Artist Bios
Bernie Hyland:
Bernie Hyland, a resident artist at DAAS Co-op, is a painter and collage artist based in Ft. Myers, Florida (33908). His work moves between abstraction and realism, blending layered textures, cut fragments, and expressive color to explore themes of transformation and memory. Through a mix of intuitive brushwork and meticulously assembled imagery, he creates compositions that feel both spontaneous and carefully constructed. Hyland’s recent work continues to push the interplay between material, narrative, and visual tension.
Bernie Hyland’s creative foundation is built on a strong formal education in the visual arts. He earned his BFA in Painting from the Swain School of Design, followed by teacher certification through UMass Dartmouth. He also expanded his visual communication skills through studies in Advertising Art at the Rhode Island School of Design. Alongside his fine art training, Hyland brings more than 25 years of experience in the printing and graphic design field, a background that informs his precise approach to composition, layout, and visual structure. This blend of academic study and industry expertise continues to shape his evolving artistic practice in both abstraction and realism.
______________
Danielle Branchaud:
After nearly two decades of exhibiting artwork across Southwest Florida, Danielle Branchaud has earned a place among some of the most notable surreal artists in the region. Her work transcends the human perspective into something much deeper – purposefully voyaging into realms of thought and feeling that are unsettling to most in an effort to process her own experiences as well as that of others. There is no limit to the territory that she will traverse with her paintings, using an intimate and efficient method of painting figures and dreamscapes in acrylics, while also occasionally experimenting with mixed media and sculpture. She has exhibited her artwork in the Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center, Alliance for the Arts, Arts for ACT, DAAS CO-OP, and other galleries/venues in Fort Myers, Naples, Bonita Springs, Sarasota, and Miami. While still utilizing her home studio, she also has a studio space at DAAS CO-OP on the Alliance for the Arts campus – that can be visited by the public on select days of the week. In addition to developing her own series work, she is known to pursue collaborative projects with other artists and is a co-founder of the Syzygy Collaborative Art Project.
______________
David Acevedo:
Born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico in 1975.
Acevedo’s pictorial work is recognizable by the bold colors, textures, and compositions. Acevedo, has created imagery attributed to his silent resistance to conformity and established stereotypes and draws from his roots in Puerto Rico and social themes.
His pictorial work is recognizable by the bold colors, textures, and complex compositions. He has created darker imagery attributed to his silent resistance to conformity and established stereotypes. A notable part of his depictions is the hidden message or symbols in his work, drawing the viewer into each piece and creating intrigue. The work Acevedo produces ranges from vibrant Pop-like, expressionistic, and abstract.
Acevedo’s reach has been extended by numerous featured articles in magazines such as Gulfshorelife, the Fort Myers Magazine, Happenings Magazine, the Fort Myers News-Press, D’Latinos Magazine, and others.
He has exhibited in the United States, Spain, and China (Hong Kong). Winning the title of Visual Artist of the Year in 2009 and a Gulfshorelife Magazine FACE Award in 2016 for his community work in diversity and inclusion.
______________
Dominick Tascher:
Dominick Tascher is a French-born, self-taught mixed-media artist whose work explores the intersection of memory, symbolism, and cultural narrative through layered abstraction. Born in Bordeaux, France, he developed an early sensitivity to visual culture while growing up in a city steeped in architectural history, painting, and music.
Although Tascher pursued a career in medicine, his artistic practice remained a constant thread in his life. A move to the Caribbean in the late 1980s proved pivotal: the vivid light, color, and cultural energy of St. Martin rekindled his commitment to painting and expanded his visual language.
Now based in Southwest Florida, Tascher’s work draws on the gestural freedom of Abstract Expressionism, the fractured perspectives of Cubism, and the raw immediacy of Street Art. His compositions often combine bold color, texture, and symbolic forms, creating layered surfaces that suggest both personal and historical narratives. His process embraces spontaneity, intuition, and the balance between control and chance.
Tascher lives and works in Southwest Florida and is a resident artist at Union Artist Studios at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers.
______________
John Rizza
Now that I am devoting my time to creating art, I am committed to exploring it fully. At times I have as many as 6-10 works in different phases of creation. My style can be described as “post impressionistic” with a blend of “fauvism” especially with its emphasis on form & color. Composition, palette selection and expressing movement by loose brush strokes and palette knife applications are some of the main factors in my creation process. Exploring the unique possibilities of using different “limited palette” techniques has opened my eyes to the complexity of creating a harmonious piece of art.
Seeking out interesting landscape subjects with an eye for recording “olde” Florida scenes have helped me explore many wonderful locations in the area.
Figurative piece experimentation includes series recording the Southwest Florida Fisherman at work and the Musicians of SWF series have been rewarding. Applying solid composition skills with loose brush strokes to try and capture the sounds & movement of these live performances. My new series recording the Historic Pine Island Sound Fish houses is offering me an opportunity to “record” more of Olde Florida.
I love my journey hopefully you will enjoy following it.
______________
Joshua Greer:
Joshua Greer (aka JG BAM) is a multidisciplinary artist based out of Cape Coral whose work spans painting, sculpture, and visual storytelling. Holding an Associate’s degree in Graphic Design, Greer brings together formal visual training with a deeply lived perspective shaped by experiences as a combat veteran, farm hand, and truck driver.
These varied chapters of life inform a creative practice rooted in observation, resilience, and human connection. Through his work, JG BAM incorporates unique historical perspectives and layered narratives, often inviting audiences to engage with familiar forms in unfamiliar ways. His art reflects an interest in storytelling that bridges personal experience, history, and imagination.
At the center of JG BAM’s creative mission is a belief in the transformative power of making art. He advocates for creativity as a meaningful practice for both the mind and spirit, encouraging others to explore the personal benefits of the creative process.
______________
Julia Da Rocha:
Julia Da Rocha is a graphic designer, illustrator, children’s book author, and painter. Her work showcases bold, vibrant colors and playful doodles, often utilizing recycled materials combined with abstract, flowery patterns. This creative approach invites viewers to perceive nature in diverse ways. Julia’s artwork has been featured both nationally and internationally.
She resides in Fort Myers, FL, where you can often find her painting in her art studio.
______________
Nick Masiello:
Nick Masiello was born in Dover, Delaware and moved to southwest Florida as a young child. He received his bachelor’s degree in art from Florida Gulf Coast University in spring 2012 and remains active in the local arts scene, working with several large-name artists and galleries in the area; curating, installing, and transporting art. In 2013, he became one of the founding members of Bootleggers Gallery (a pop-up art gallery on ArtWalk and MusicWalk where the artists take home 100% of their profits). In 2015, he cofounded the Syzygy Collaborative Art Project with Danielle Branchaud and has remained active in the years since. They share studio space at DAAS CO-OP to display a selection of these collab pieces. Masiello has exhibited in Miami Art Basel, the Sidney Biannual in Australia, Museum of Outdoor Arts Denver, Florida Gulf Coast University, Alliance For The Arts, DAAS CO-OP Gallery, Unit A Gallery, Tincture Gallery, HW Gallery, Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center, Arts Bonita, AC Hotel Tampa, Otherside Ink Gallery, Howl Gallery, Dysfunctional Grace Gallery, and mural for Vice News Miami in 2014 and several murals since in Fort Myers & Sarasota . Recently, he had a solo show at SBDAC in June 2024, which told the story of survival after Hurricane Ian and the aftermath it had on our community, followed by a Syzygy solo in November 2025 at DAAS CO-OP Gallery.
______________
Roland Ruocco:
A New York native I attended the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan, then Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. After moving to South Florida in 2001, I established my working studio in Lauderdale by the Sea and from 2010 to 2017 my studio and exhibition spaces were in Miami’s Wynwood Art District.
After relocating to Southwest Florida in 201, I transitioned to adding public art mural projects to my fine art pursuits. In both 2022 and 2023 I was a recipient of the City of Fort Myers Arts & Culture-Grant for public art. I currently have completed over 60 and counting contracted mural projects in the SW Florida area. Among the most notable: the Large Gesturing Hand, Dunbar Strong, City of Cape Coral Tribute, and McCollum Hall.
My Florida based studio also serves as the home for the New Light Foundation, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)3 charitable organization, through which my wife, artist, Wendy White and I have conducted grant driven art-based community outreach programs for many years.
______________
Stacey Brown:
Stacey C. Brown is a Fort Myers, Florida–based abstract mixed media artist whose work lives at the intersection of psychology, spirituality, and creative expression. A lifelong artist, her practice has evolved across disciplines—from nationally recognized jewelry design to painting, photography, and mixed media—culminating in a body of work known for its depth, luminosity, and layered complexity.
Brown’s paintings are built through an intuitive, multi-layered process using acrylic, ink, collage, and hand-marked symbolism. Vivid color fields, gestural movement, fragments of text, and partially obscured imagery create surfaces that are meant to be explored rather than simply viewed. Hidden messages, markings, and visual shifts reveal themselves over time, inviting a slower, more contemplative engagement—one that mirrors the process of self-discovery itself.
Her work has been exhibited in juried and invitational shows throughout Southwest Florida, including the Alliance for the Arts, ACT Gallery, and DAAS Gallery. A two-time recipient of the City of Fort Myers Arts and Cultural Grant, Brown has contributed to the region’s cultural landscape through both exhibition and community engagement. Her artwork has been featured on the 2024 Alliance for the Arts Membership Card and displayed at Southwest Florida International Airport. She is currently a Resident Artist at Union Artist Studios.
At the core of Brown’s work is a guiding philosophy: that creativity is not separate from healing, but a direct pathway into it. Influenced by yoga philosophy, astrology, and her decades-long career as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, her paintings function as both visual narratives and energetic spaces—where complexity, resilience, and transformation can coexist.
Brown sees herself as a translator—of inner experience into visual language, of emotion into form, of lived experience into something both tangible and expansive. Her work reflects a deeper inquiry into what it means to move from survival into expression, from fragmentation into wholeness. Each piece becomes a kind of visual sanctuary, inviting the viewer not only to look, but to feel, remember, and rediscover their own inner landscape.
______________
Wendy White
Born in Rockaway Beach, New York, Wendy White grew up surrounded by art and the sea. She received a full academic scholarship to Barnard College in NYC, originally pursuing medicine in hopes of curing her father’s blindness. Her passion for painting was reignited by her mentor, artist, Milton Resnick, leading to her renowned abstract impressionist style.
Wendy exhibits her art in New York, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and beyond, selling over 150 canvases in 250+ exhibitions. She’s the creator of the award-winning short film, Roses Are Blind, and the one-woman play The Jewish Nun, performed Off-Broadway and internationally. Wendy co-founded the nonprofit, New Light Foundation, supporting students through arts-driven scholarships, and serves as U.S. Ambassador to the Bridge of Peace Film Festival in Paris and India’s Saath Jio Foundation.
Wendy’s dream is to create a universal bridge of peace between all the countries of the world through international cultural exchanges.
______________
Xavier Brignoni:
Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Xavier Brignoni has been a custom framer, an Educator, a decorator, and since 2008, a conceptual artist.
He moved to Southwest Florida in 2000, following an opportunity to reshape and redirect his professional career. Alongside lifetime friend and visual artist David Acevedo, he co-founded DAAS Gallery in downtown Fort Myers, FL. In 2012, he co-founded the Union Artists Studios in the Alliance for the Arts campus. To this day, this is the only organized group studio space in all of SWFL. As part of the first DAAS Gallery, Brignoni collaborated to establish the Fort Myers Art Walk. More recently, the artist helped establish DAAS CO-OP Art Gallery & Gifts in 2016 and expand the Union Artist Studios in 2021.
In 2017, Brignoni was recognized with a FACE Award for diversity and inclusion in the community. He has exhibited in multiple galleries in southwest Florida, and his work is part of numerous private art collections.
As a conceptualist with a powerful influence on pop art, Brignoni’s work is bold and relatable. He touches on his own life and experiences to express his emotions in a variety of mediums. His favorite technique is the fine-art decoupage. Some of his latest and most renowned works belong to his “Balancing Act” (2018) and “It Is What It Is” (2019) Collections.
With a brand new studio space and a new website, Brignoni is promising more impact and relevant artistic works, constantly evolving and pushing the boundaries.
______________
