Scene & Heard by Heidi Kurpiela - The Observer Group

home :: blogs :: Scene & Heard

+ SMOA piggybacks on painter’s popularity
It’s not easy to generate sustained interest in a museum that has yet to exist. In an effort to keep people buzzing about Ringling College of Art and Design’s new Sarasota Museum of Art (SMOA), board members have begun hosting a series of awareness events, spotlighting the kind of work art aficionados can expect from the new contemporary art museum opening in the old Sarasota High School.

Take, for example, Friday night’s reception for Sarasota painter Alberto Mancini at Imperial Gallery on Main Street. The event, hosted by Bob and Dottie Baer Garner and Liz Kruidenier, was packed with people admiring Mancini’s 28-painting tribute to Emily Dickinson.

The exhibit, inspired by actual poems pulled from an anthology of Dickinson’s best work, not only piqued people’s interests in SMOA, it also earned two thumbs up from discerning Dickinson scholars, including Jane Wald, director of the Emily Dickinson Museum, in Amherst, Mass.

+ ‘Caddyshack’ painting ready for its big reveal
After spending eight months toiling away on a 60-by-48-inch painting depicting the movie “Caddyshack,” newspaper illustrator-turned-painter David O’Keefe is ready to hand his masterpiece over to Par Aide owner Steve Garske.

Garske’s father designed and patented the ball-washer that launched the golf-accessories company to mega status when it was featured in a memorable scene with Bill Murray in the 1980 comedy.
Garske was so taken with O’Keefe’s work during a recent trip to the artist’s St. Armands Circle gallery that he asked O’Keefe to paint a “Caddyshack” tribute for Par Aide’s St. Paul, Minn., headquarters.

O’Keefe will host a reception from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. March 26, at David O’Keefe Studios, during which he’ll present the painting to Garske.

+ Local arts organizations rally for Haiti relief
Organizers of the “Reach Out and Touch Haiti” concert Sunday night at Riverview Performing Arts Center are still tallying funds raised for three charitable organizations: Hearts Afire, a Sarasota-based mission currently providing medical relief directly to Haiti; ShelterBox, an organization that provides shelter to communities following natural disasters; and CRUDEM, a foundation that supports the largest private hospital in Haiti.

According to Katt Hefner, more than $2,500 was raised during the concert, which featured performances by the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre, Lillette Jenkins-Wisner and the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.
“My mission was to let people know that the money doesn’t get lost in the wash,” Hefner says.

+ Hot tickets
Sarasota Opera’s ‘Salute the Stars’ Award Luncheon: Sarasota Opera will honor the achievements of resident artists for the 2010 season with both local and national awards at 11:30 a.m. March 19, at the Sarasota Opera House. Now that the Oscars are over, what else is there to look forward to award-wise? Emceed by WWSB ABC 7 news anchor Heidi Godman, “Salute the Stars” is an inaugural award-and-scholarship luncheon paying tribute to the performers who blew us away all season. Tickets are $65 per person or $100 per patron. Oh, and did we mention there will be music?

Iconcept 2010: Art Center Sarasota’s outrageous art-meets-fashion show is back for a second turn on the catwalk. The fundraiser was such a spectacle last year that Art Center staffers could barely get everyone in the door. Look for wearable art by many of the same local artists and designers featured in last year’s exhibition, plus a choreographed runway production showcasing the final designs. The festivities start at 7 p.m. Friday, March 26, at Art Center Sarasota. Tickets are $20 for Art Center members and $30 for non-members and include lite bites and two drinks.