Changing exhibitions are sponsored by the Friends of Cape Coral Library and are designed to afford local artists the opportunity to share their work in a public forum without fees or commissions. Library visitors of all ages benefit from this visual cultural experience.
Pottery by Rick Aliperti will be featured in the two large cases in the gallery. Aliperti hails from Long Island, New York, but moved to Cape Coral in 2005. His journey in clay began back in 1969 after he saw a program on American Indian pottery. In 1970, Rick took a few classes at a local pottery studio, purchased a kick wheel, kiln and then began producing pottery in his parents’ basement while attending college. During this time Rick won numerous awards while selling his pottery at craft fairs and began teaching classes. In 1972, he took a position running after school programs focused on pottery. Starting in1975 until retirement in 2019, Rick worked in sales, but continued to do pottery in his spare time. Today Rick and his wife Margaret run The Pottery Court from their house located adjacent to Mary Jane’s Preserve, a Gopher Tortoise preserve they own in the SW Cape. Rick’s work spans a wide range of clay ware, from burnished pit fired blackware, sculptured whistles, tiles, specialty plates and wheel thrown pots. They run small personalized classes focused on pottery slabs creating platters and pots along with clay whistles. The Pottery Court supports local craft fairs and can be followed on Facebook.
The Cape Coral Library is located at 921 SW 39th Terrace, and the current exhibition may be viewed during regular library business hours until Feb. 28.