The 4th annual ArtsHOP Tour 2010 of art and theater on Anna Maria Island is being held Friday, Saturday and Sunday November 12 –14. The ArtsHOP event features a festival of local artists on a tour of locations presenting artworks and productions.
Similar to the very popular annual Island Tour of Homes, the ArtsHOP Tour comprises exhibits and demonstrations at featured participating art and cultural venues.
By picking up a ‘Passport’, visitors getting 6 or more venue stamps can get 20% off at Sandbar, BeacHhouse, or Mar Vista restaurants, and by turning in the passport at AMI Art League or The Studio by 8:45pm Friday be in a drawing for $150 of art supplies from Keeton’s of Bradenton.
Numbered from the north end these are the locations of events:
The Studio at Gulf and Pine, 10101 Gulf Drive
Island Historical Museum, 402 Pine Ave
Island Playhouse, 10009 Gulf Drive
Ginny’s and Jane E’s, 9807 Gulf Drive
Three Island Monkeys, 9801 Gulf Drive
Crosspointe Fellowship, 8605 Gulf Drive
Anna Maria Island Butterfly Park, 5801 Marina Drive
Special events are scheduled for the 3-day festival.
Friday: 5 – 9pm Gallery Walk, complimentary refreshments, live music, art demonstrations, prizes. Silent auction at the Studio on Gulf and Pine of “Calling All Artists” turtle-themed art exhibit. Demonstration at Artists Guild Gallery of polymer clay jewelry process. Demonstrations at Anna Maria Island Art League of floor cloth painting and wire sculpture. Vignettes and sketches at Island Playhouse 8pm ($15).
Saturday: book-signing by Carolynne Norwood’s “Anna Maria Island 1940 to 1970” 10am – noon & 2 – 4pm Island Historical Museum. Silent auction at the Studio on Gulf and Pine of “Calling All Artists” turtle-themed art exhibit. Vignettes and sketches at Island Playhouse 8pm.
Sunday: Arts and craft fare 10am – 4pm AMI Butterfly Garden. Concert by Anna Maria Island Concert Orchestra and Chorus 2pm ($20). Drum Circle at Manatee County Public Beach 5:30pm – sunset.
The ArtsHOP 2010 weekend is sponsored by local businesses and organized by Cultural Connections representing Anna Maria Island arts and cultural groups.
Doors, entrances, portals and passages are the theme of the Anna Maria Island Art League’s first show of the 2009-2010 cultural season. It opens on November 13, as part of the island-wide ArtsHOP, a weekend full of art, theater and music. Hosted by the Anna Maria Island Art League, Island Gallery West, The Artists’ Guild Gallery, and The Studio at Gulf and Pine, ArtsHOP includes a Friday evening gallery walk through all these fine galleries, and more.
An ArtsHOP Passport listing all the participating galleries can be picked up at any of the participating locations. Those who get their Passports stamped at six of the locations will be offered a 20 percent discount on dinner, afterward, at any of three of the Island’s favorite waterfront restaurants: The Sand Bar, The Beach House, and Mar Vista, on Longboat Key. A stamped Passport turned into the Art Leagues of Anna Maria Island before 8:45 Friday night will also serve as a raffle ticket for a huge basket of art-related gifts from Keeton’s Office and Art Supply of Bradenton.
Also on Friday and Saturday night will be performances by the Island Players of “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe,” a show originally performed by Lily Tomlin. On Saturday and Sunday during the day there will be an arts and crafts fair at the Holmes Beach City Hall Field. A Sock Hop on Saturday night will be held at the Anna Maria Island Historical Society Jail and Museum Complex. It is appropriately called “The Jailhouse Rock Sock Hop.” Suggested attire is poodle skirts and greaser outfits. Music of a very different kind will be featured on Sunday afternoon at 2 in the season’s first performance of the Anna Maria Island Orchestra and Chorus at the Cross Point Church.
A special part of this year’s ArtsHOP is an art happening in which local artists painted doors that were displayed all around the island in the weeks leading up to ArtsHOP. On Sunday afternoon, November 15, the doors will be auctioned under the banyan tree at the Anna Maria Island Art League, with proceeds going to the Cultural Connections. The mission of this organization, founded in 2008, is to promote Anna Maria Island as a cultural destination.
There is something about a gallery walk that brings out the best in people. A sense of relaxed camaraderie prevails. And when it takes place on a beautiful island, at a time of year when many part-time residents are returning for winter, very pleased they are escaping the winter snows, the atmosphere is all the more festive.
Such an event took place on Anna Maria Island on November 14, when various arts and cultural organizations banded together for the ArtsHOP Gallery Walk. The balmy air that evening made walking, driving or riding the trolley from one venue to the next an absolute pleasure. Paradise was found that night. The arts were celebrated.
Map of locations can be found at http://www.islandartshop.com/map.html web page.
