Arts & Cultural Events and Exhibits this week.
Monday, September 26 – Sunday, October 2, 2011
Click the links below to learn more.

Events:

Sep 26-Nov 5: Fall Art Classes at Polk Museum of Art
Sept 26-30: Explorations V Children’s Daily Sessions
Sept 26: After School Art (Ages 5 & Up)
Sept 26 & 27: Auditions for LCT Main Stage Production of Anything Goes
Sept 27: ISO Masterworks I: “Magic of the Flute”
Sept 29: Fall Film Series – Islands in Time
Sept 29-Oct 2: The Full Monty
Sept 30 – Oct 1: Le Cabaret de Polk
Oct 1: Meet the Highwaymen & Painting Workshop
Oct 1: Beginning Photography – Point & Shoot
Oct 1: Family Fun Workshop – Drawing
Oct 1-2: Ultimate Broadway – Memorable Movement & Musical Moments
Oct 2: Final 2011 Sunday Summer Classic Film – Walk the Line
Oct 2-3: Auditions for “It’s A Wonderful Life”

Exhibitions:

Through Sept 29: Emerging Environmentalists Art Exhibit
Through Sept 30: Artists Alexis Gonzales & Evelyn Verhey
Through Oct 8: Figuration
Through Oct 9: Inspirations, The Members Exhibition
Through Oct 13: Against All Odds: The Florida Highwaymen
Open Sept 30-Oct 28: Blacklight by Al Kriston
Through Oct 31: Hispanic Heritage Gallery Exhibit
Open Oct 1-31: Artist Ronald Fields & the High School Show
Through Nov 13: The (Lost) Art Of Drawing
Open Oct 1-Dec 1: Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson Music & Nature Paper Painting Art Exhibit
Through Dec 10 – Jessica Lange: In Mexico
Through Dec 10 – En Plein Sight: Paintings by Lilian Garcia-Roig
Through May 1, 2012: Ridge Art Presents Third Annual Aviation Exhibition

January 4, 1:30pm and 7:00pm: Opera Overtures: A theatre broadcast preview of Puccini’s La Fancuilla del West (The Girl of the Golden West).  Live in theatres on January 8th at 1:00pm at Cobb Theatres Lakeside Village 18 Cinemas in Lakeland and Cobb Grand 10 Cinemas in Winter Haven. Learn more!

On exhibit through January 7 at the Lake Wales Municipal Building: Municipal Fine Art Show sponsored by Lake Wales Arts Council and City of Lake Wales.  Learn more!

On exhibit through January 8 at Polk Museum of Art – Eye See America: Through the Lens of Joshua Mann Pailet and Visual Unity 2.  Learn more!

January 9, 1:00pm and 3:30pm: Edward Bok Memorial Carillon Concerts. Commemorate the life of Gardens’ founder Edward W. Bok who died January 9, 1930, less than a year after his beloved Singing Tower was dedicated.  Free with admission.  Learn more!

January 13, 7:30pm: Afiara String Quartet, Updike Hall at Lake Wales Arts Center.  Learn more!

January 17, 1:00pm and 3:30pm:  Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Carillon Concerts featuring music of hope, inspiration and peace honoring Dr. King. Learn more!

January 18, 7:30-8:30pm:  Moonlight Carillon Concert at Bok Tower Gardens.  Learn more!

January 19, 7:30pm: Singer and comedian Mark Lowry performs benefit concert for Southeastern University at The Historic Polk Theatre. Learn more!

January 21, 8:20pm (2020 hours): Pecha Kucha Night Lakeland at 241 S. Kentucky Ave in Lakeland.  The doors open at 7:20pm for this fun and creative event where eight creatives give thought-provoking and entertaining presentations of 20 slides for 20 seconds.  Learn more!

January 21 – April 1: Municipal Fine Art Show at the Lake Wales Municipal Building.  The opening reception and awards ceremony are on January 21 from 5:00-7:00pm.  Learn more!

January 22, 7:00pm: The Imperial Symphony Orchestra’s Night at the Opera takes place in Branscomb Auditorium at Florida Southern College.  This 10th anniversary season celebration includes selections from Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Barber of Seville, La Traviata, Tosca, La Boheme, Lakme, Cavalleria Rusticana, Samson & Delilah, Le Nozze Di Figaro and Lucia Di Lammermoor with a nationally renowned cast, including Stella Zambalis, Mark Thomsen, Thomas Potter, John Thomasson and Christina Sale, led by Artistic Director James Caraher, Indianapolis Opera.  Learn more!

January 23, 4:30pm: Music at Pinewood Concert Series: Duo Turgeon, Piano. Learn more!

On exhibit through January 27 at Lake Wales Arts Center – Ringling College of Art and Design Trustee Scholar Artists.  Learn more!

January 27 – April 21: 12-Week Watercolor Art Classes at Bok Tower Gardens.  Thursdays, except April 14. Beginning/Intermediate: 9:30am-12:30pm, Intermediate/Advanced: 1:30-4:30pm.  Learn more!

January 29, 7:30pm: Leap of Faith – A hand-clapping, toe-tapping evening of gospel music featuring some of the finest voices of church choir members from around the community. Celebrate faith, family and heritage.  This jubilant salute will lift your spirits and restore your soul.  Presented on the Bartow Performing Arts Series at Bartow Elementary Auditorium.  Learn more!

January 30: Sundays @ the Center – Singing Tree, 2:00pm.  Updike Hall at the Lake Wales Arts Center.  A special name for a unique duo. Celtic, folk and traditional music.  Learn more!

January 30, 2pm. One day only – “Thank you for the music – the music of ABBA,” a joint production of Theatre Winter Haven and Lakeland Community Theatre presented at The Historic Polk Theatre.  Tickets available through the Polk Theatre are $25, $20, $15.  Phone: 863.682.7553.  Learn more! Purchase tickets online here!

Learn more about arts events and news by visiting the Polk Arts website.

October 1-27    Fear (Juried Exhibition)
Arts on the Park, 115 N. Kentucky Ave, Lakeland, FL 33801
Reception and Awards, Friday October 1, 2010 6-9 p.m.
Gallery hours are Noon – 4:00pm, Tuesday – Saturday.

October 1-29    Vilas Tonape Exhibition: Kruti
Melvin Gallery, Florida Southern College
111 Lake Hollingsworth Dr, Lakeland FL  33801
Opening reception is Friday, October 1 at 7pm in the Melvin Gallery.
Gallery Hours are 9am – 4pm, Monday – Friday when school is in session.

Oct 2-Dec 2: “Florida Expressions” Art exhibit featuring the works of Polly Tetrault, a self-taught artist whose pastel and oil paintings express the beauty in nature that is often taken for granted.
Bok Tower Gardens, 1151 Tower Blvd, Lake Wales, FL 33853
9am – 5pm daily

October 2 – January 8 at Polk Museum of Art (2 new exhibits)
Eye See America: Through the Lens of Joshua Mann Pailet
Visual Unity 2: View the results of “What happens when you partner 19 very different artists and tell them to make a piece of art together?”
Polk Museum of Art, 800 E. Palmetto St, Lakeland, FL  33801
Museum Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm, Sunday 1 – 5pm.  Closed Mondays and major holidays.

Click here to learn more about arts and cultural happenings in Central Florida’s Polk County – The Heart of the Arts.

Jerry Uelsmann, Untitled, 1987, Gelatin Silver Print, 16 x 20 inches, Collection of Lee and Becky Jackson

Polk Museum of Art’s upcoming exhibition, The Surreal Photography of Jerry Uelsmann, is certain to be a favorite among people who love photography or surrealism. The artist, Jerry Uelsmann, is a former University of Florida photography professor, and he’s been creating dream-like images in his darkroom longer than Photoshop has been around! He uses up to 7 enlarges to create composite images from his original negatives, and then develops the paper using traditional chemical processes.

The exhibition will be a 50 year retrospective of Uelsmann’s work, and it will be on display November 14 – January 17.

Back Porch by Steven S. Gregory

Polk Museum of Art is opening three new exhibitions in June, and the first one is Shelter, an exhibition of works from the Museum’s permanent collection. Since I’ve been having a hard time putting the concept behind this exhibition into my own words, I’m just going to quote PMoA’s Curator of Art, Todd Behrens:

“The idea of a shelter can be anything from a physical enclosure to emotional security. Sometimes shelter is a state of mind in which one feels safe and protected. Sometimes shelter is simply a physical structure that leads to that state of mind.”

Shelter will be up (no pun intended!) June 7 – August 23 in the Museum’s Perkins Gallery, also known as the hallway gallery. Keep in mind that PMoA reduces its hours in the summer: Tues. – Sat. 10am – 4pm and closed Sundays, Mondays and major holidays.

The Museum is planning a great opening reception featuring Laura A. Foster, the Curator of Art from the Frederic Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg, New York. Laura will speak at 6:00, and then light hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar will be available at 7:00. Also, you’ll be able to enjoy music by local favorites, Billy Needs a Beard!

Admission is free for members of the Museum, and $10 for everyone else! Be sure to get over there for the fun. And if you don’t make it to the opening, the exhibition will be on display through November 9.

Here’s a quick rundown:

Exhibitions:

• Quackery to Remedy: 100 Years of Polk County Medicine and Our Patchwork Heritage: Museum Quilts at the Polk County Historical Museum.
• Members Show II, September 5 – 24, at Arts on the Park.
• Bridges, Livingston & Turro, September 5 – October 17, at Lake Wales Arts Center.
• Frederic Remington Makes Tracks… Adventures and Artistic Impressions, September 13 – November 9, at Polk Museum of Art.
• Generations: The Member’s Exhibition, September 24 – October 12, at Ridge Art Association.
• Platform Florida Art Party #12, one night only, September 27, at Florida Air Museum at Sun’n'Fun.

Performances:

• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at Lake Wales Little Theatre, September 12 – 21
• Anton Brees Birthday Carillon Concerts at Bok Tower Gardens, September 14
• Harrison School for the Arts Faculty Recital on September 18
• Nunsensations at Theatre Winter Haven, September 25 – October 12
• The Foreigner at Florida Southern College’s Buckner Theater, September 25 – 28 & October 2 – 5
• Anne of Green Gables at Lakeland Community Theatre, September 26 – 28
• Tea & Symphony: A Different Beat by Imperial Symphony Orchestra at The Lakeland Center on September 30.

Other Events:

• Family Fun Workshop with Polk Museum of Art at Polk County Historical Museum on September 13
• View & Review: Critiquing Emerging Artists at Polk Museum of Art, September 19
• Family Day at Polk Museum of Art, September 20
• Creative Studies Series: Mask of the Shaman Woman at Polk Museum of Art, September 21
• MEGA Monday for Moms Community Expo at Explorations V Children’s Museum, September 23
• A Workshop called “The Business of Fine Art” at Polk Museum of Art, September 27
• From Paintings to Fine Art Prints with Bob Rosensky, hosted by Lakeland Art Guild and held at the Peggy Brown Building at the Lake Mirror Complex, September 29

Whew! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If you love the arts, there is always something happening right here in Polk County! So get out there and enjoy it!