DIVIDING THE ESTATE by Horton Foote

Directed by Debi Morgan

At the Polk Museum of Art

Tickets $10 Adults, $8 Under 18

Call 863 603 PLAY (7529) or www.lakelandcommunitytheatre.com
Old resentments and sibling rivalries surface as the members of
this hilariously dysfunctional family go head to head to see who
might claim the biggest piece of the pie.

Suitable for Mature Audiences

Polk Museum of Art will once again host its annual Gems & Jewels Artist Market on Thursday, November 18. This year, the event will have new hours, 10am – 7pm. Admission to the event is free, and nine artists will be selling their wearable art in the Museum’s galleries.

Gems & Jewels Artist Market brings local and regional jewelry, apparel, and décor artists to the Museum for a one day trunk-show style event. Artists set up in the galleries, and the public has the opportunity to shop for unique holiday gifts directly from the artists.

This year’s confirmed artists are: Anisa Stewart (jewelry), Mary Bassham (jewelry), Ilene Phelan (stained glass ornaments and décor), Punam Saxena (apparel and accessories), Vicky Luffman (painted silk apparel and décor), Diane Horn (jewelry), Stefanie von Paleske-Bush (jewelry), Pamela Huizenga Alexander (jewelry), and Delores Chamblin (knitted apparel).

For more information about this event, call 863-688-7743 x245 or visit www.PolkMuseumofArt.org

The workshop is inspired by the Museum’s current exhibition Visual Unity 2, in which 19 artists were teamed in pairs (and in threes in one case), and asked to create a piece of art as a team. The results were surprising and exciting.

Rocky Bridges, one of the artists from VU2, as well as the guest co-curator, is leading this workshop at the Museum. All he asks is that participants bring at least one photo of his or herself, as well as some collage material that can be shared with the group. Everyone will walk away with one 12″ x 15″ ready-to-hang piece of art. You can bring a friend to be partnered with, or, if you come alone, you will be partnered with another single participant.

The fee for the workshop is $25 for Museum members and $40 for non-members. For more information or to register, call 863-688-5423 or visit the Museum’s website.

For November 6, the topic is Clay. Participants will take a quick, guided tour of the exhibition Ancient Art of the Americas for inspiration, and then will head upstairs to create their own ceramic sculpture. The workshop is from 1:00 – 2:00pm, and costs $10 for PMoA members or $25 for non-members.

Pre-registration is required. Call 863-688-5423 or go to the Museum’s website to register.

Visual Unity 2 asks the question, “What happens when you partner 19 very different artists and tell them to make a piece of art together?” Nineteen artists were divided into nine teams and asked to create two collaborative pieces. In addition to those two pieces, a recent piece by each individual artist is displayed as an example of their respective styles. Some of the teams are surprising combinations. For example, one team consists of a glass artist working with a photographer.

The Museum partnered with local artist Rocky Bridges for this new take on the original Visual Unity exhibition hosted last year at the Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg. Bridges served as co-curator of the project with Adam Justice, Curator of Art, and Daniel E. Stetson, Executive Director.

The confirmed artists to speak at Behind the Art are: Rocky Bridges (Tarpon Springs), Leslie Neumann (Aripeka), Lucia Taxdal (Winter Haven), Monica Eastman (Plant City), Monica Londono (Sarasota), Theo Wujcik (Tampa), Kirk ke Wang (Tampa), Jill Cannady (Deland), and Robert Stackhouse (St. Petersburg). Other artists may appear if their schedules allow.

Visual Unity 2 and its related educational programs are supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information about the exhibition, visit www.PolkMuseumofArt.org.

Downtown Lakeland and Polk Museum of Art partner to bring you

another great Downtown Lakeland tour!

Tour date set for Saturday,  October 30. Meet at the Polk Museum of Art @ 9:30am with your bikes. Firm limit of 20 riders.   Registration required.

“Over the last thirteen years Lakeland has become a city of sculptures,” explains Dan Stetson, Executive Director of the Polk Museum of Art.  Most of the city’s collection came from the Florida Outdoor Sculpture Competition on Lemon Street Promenade.  You’ll also see private pieces – swans and butterflies -  from the Swansation and Kaleidoscope projects sprinkled throughout Lakeland and Downtown.  “The success of the Historic Walking Tours has inspired us to create others,” says Julie Townsend of DLP.  “Pedaling the Arts accomplishes multiple goals. It exposes residents to Downtown and the outdoor art we have, and it also gets folks biking in Downtown.”  Dan Stetson will lead the group beginning and ending at Polk Museum of Art. The tour will last about 2 hours, with a break Downtown for drinks and rest rooms.  All participants need to be on bikes obviously and will be required to follow bike safety rules.  This is just another great reason to come Downtown.  As of press time, only one tour date was set. If this date fills quickly another will be set for sometime in November. Tours will require the purchase of $10 worth of Downtown Dollars per person.  “We want to generate sales in Downtown,”     says Townsend.  The Downtown Dollars can be used for purchases in more than 20 businesses, so after the tour you can grab lunch or shop with your Downtown Dollars. They expire one year from the purchase date.

In addition to the BIKELAKELAND efforts, bike enthusiasts like Mitch Harvey, owner of Mitchell’s Coffee House, wants to work toward getting Lakeland designated as a “Bicycle Friendly Community”.  The city of Lakeland’s Parks & Rec. Department installed “Cindy the Cyclist”, an artsy bike rack, in Munn Park in June.

Admission is $2 per participant and children must be accompanied by an adult. Regular museum admission applies for adults. For more information please call 863-688-5423.