Category: Arts

Suncoast art events, galleries, exhibitions, parades, craft shows and festivities on Anna Maria Island

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Art, Cultural Events Start Anna Maria Island High Season

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.

Anna Maria ArtsHOP 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.

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Arts Community

Real Anna Maria Key Bayfest Live

Anna Maria in September is usually one of the quietest months of the year, in terms of entertainment and special events. At this time of year much of our entertainment comes from watching the flowers grow, and watching the birds watching the fish.

That’s because, in terms of weather, it is likely to be one of the most active months of the year. It is the peak of hurricane season. It’s still very hot and humid and buggy. It’s likely to be very rainy because the sea breezes from Florida’s east coast and west coast tend to collide along our shoreline at this time of year. The result is turbulence: thunder and lightning. Floridians who want to discourage repeat houseguests have learned to invite them in the month of September. Often, the weather will take care of the rest and those guests will not ever come back.

Ann Maria island shores October is the month in which we finally get some relief from the heat. As the temperatures drop, and the threat of storms lessens, the island starts to come outside to celebrate the joys of life here. One of the first celebrations of the season is Bayfest, on Pine Avenue in Anna Maria. Now in its ninth year, Bayfest will be held this 2009 on the weekend of October 16. On Friday night, the kick-off party will feature live music by Bootleg from 7 to 10, with DJ Mike Sales.

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Arts

An Artistic July 4th Celebration

Beach Path Series by Maro Lorimer
Beach Path Series by Maro Lorimer

What better way to celebrate summer’s biggest holiday than with art depicting the beaches of this beautiful island.

Anna Maria Island is a picture-perfect place to spend holidays such as the July 4th weekend. It’s a wonderful family vacation spot, and therefore a great place for family reunions. Even a week before the July 4th weekend, there was an obvious increase in families on the beach. Some of them were dressed in matching outfits, such as white shirts and denim bottoms, as they posed for photos. Now, in addition to personal photos, there is a wonderful offering of island art at the Studio at Gulf and Pine, this July 4.

The three cities of the island, Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and Anna Maria, offer plenty of traditional family fun during all holidays, including July 4. Festivals, fireworks, fishing, parades, ice cream, hot dogs and picnicking at the beach are enjoyed year-round on this wonderful island. July 4 is no exception.

Now there is one more delightful choice for the 4th: an art reception and picnic at former Florida first lady Rhea Chiles’s Studio at Gulf and Pine. This spacious and elegant art gallery has hosted many well-attended events in the past year. From the Sun Coast Watercolor Society’s excellent show last winter to the Florida Highwaymen’s exhibit in spring, to special showings of the work of well-known locals such as architect Gene Aubry and artist Richard Thomas, the Studio has gained the attention of the local art world with its very successful shows.

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Arts

Anna Maria Island Springfest Celebrates Art, Music and Camaraderie

Compared to some of the more exclusive keys along the Gulf Coast, Anna Maria Island is often referred to as the friendly island, where visitors are welcomed to join locals in relaxed enjoyment of this wonderful Florida season. There is no better way to do this than at the festivals that support the Anna Maria Island Art League. There is no admission charge for festival visitors, even though these festivals raise most of the funds that keep the Art League in operation.

AnnaMariaSpringfest The Art League is a modest, but charming, art center in downtown Holmes Beach, where a wide variety of art by island and area artists is presented throughout the year. Classes are taught there, too. Most of the funding for this special island facility and organization comes from two festivals held every year: Winterfest, in December, and Springfest, which is coming up this weekend, on March 14 and 15.

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Art and Culture In An Island Paradise

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.

ArtsHOP Gallery Walk Anna Maria

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.

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