The Alliance for the Arts is inviting the community to explore its 10-acre campus to enjoy a series of outdoor site-specific artwork installations by local artists.
The artwork can all be viewed from the safety and comfort of your own vehicle by driving through the Alliance for the Arts parking lot. Visitors can also get out of their cars and explore the artwork more closely on foot. The artists featured in this project are James Futral, Nick Masiello and Rosealine Young.
“We wanted to create a safe place for people to enjoy the visual arts. Visitors can take the opportunity to get outside, out from behind a screen or device and interact with artwork in an outdoor setting.” says gallery director Ehren Gerhard.
About the artists and artwork:
James Futral, Panda, 3 x 3 x 4 ft, steel, 2016 / Panther, 3 x 6 x 2 ft, steel, 2016 / Elephant, 10 x 15 x 5 ft, steel, 2016
James Futral is a sculptor, working in a variety of materials including metal, wood and ceramics. Three sculptures from his animal series are on display, each made from primarily recycled materials. Some of the pieces used to assemble the creatures of Futral’s works are recognizable as old dryer drums, car parts and old furniture. His skill and sensitivity to the anatomy of each creature is fun and inviting.
Nick Masiello, Vibrancy Mural, 12 x 40 x 8 ft, aerosol acrylic, lacquer, and enamel, 2020
Nick Masiello is a mixed media artist who specializes in abstract expressionist works in aerosol acrylic. For this project, he created a large-scale custom mural on a storage trailer located on the Alliance campus. He used words of inspiration from the Alliance for the Arts mission statement and painted them on the surface of the trailer in various handstyle techniques. Masiello took the mission statement’s core ideas of community, compassion, guidance, exploration, trust, friendship, self-expression, connection, inspiration, imagination, performance, individuality, and equality; and put those words directly onto the surface of the building. Interestingly, the text is unrecognizable which allows all of the words to blend together as one. The colors are bright, cheery and tropical with a welcoming Floridian flare.
Rose Young, Currents of Destruction, mixed media fiber on fishnet, 2019 / River of Decay, found objects, fiber and chain link fence, 2018
Roseline Young is a fiber artist who works in hand weaving, art quilting, fabric dyeing and painting. She is exhibiting two collaborative installations from her “Art Speaks for the Earth” project which engage viewers by their beauty and powerful environmental statements. Young collaborates with various groups of artists to fight for Mother Earth and the growing problems of climate change and water quality. Currents of Destruction involved the fiber art community in the creation of crochet rings to represent cyano-bacteria, green algae and red tide clogging the Caloosahatchee River, canals and beaches. River of Decay was created at Art Fest Fort Myers and the Stars Community Center with help from children calling attention to pollution in the Caloosahatchee which drains into the Gulf of Mexico.
For more information, call 239-939-2787 or visit ArtInLee.org/PopUp
2 Comments
Love to get more info about Nick Masiello
This event was back in 2020.