FLOR500 Exhibit Opening at Florida Gulf Coast University

Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is a member educational institution of The State University System of Florida. It is located in Lee County, FL.

Last Year, Florida celebrated it’s 500th Anniversary. The point of reference for this event was the initial arrival in Florida of the Spanish explorer, Ponce de Leon. He named Florida after , or flower, in Spanish.

As part of the recognition of this anniversary from an artistic, historic and botanical slant, FLOR500 was created by The Participatory Artist, Xavier Cortada. The  FLOR500 project splits the state into 8 geographical regions. From these regions 500 artists were invited to depict one of the 500 flowers that were present in the state when it was first “discovered” by Ponce de Leon. Southwest Florida was classified as region 7, and was made up of submissions from artists residing in Charlotte,Collier, Desoto,Glades,Hendry,Lee,Manatee and Sarasota counties.

The region 7 exhibition was held at the Main Gallery at The FGCU Arts Complex.

It was Curated by Mary Voytek and also overseen by gallery director John Loscuito.

Wine and nibbles awaited those at the entrance,

with more wine, other refreshments

and different nibbles in the gallery atrium.

Although getting there well past the opening’s crescendo, it was well attended and the art was very engaging.

Although too numerous to mention, the exhibition had forty or so contributor Artists.  Flor500 runs from May 17-June 13 of 2014.

After viewing all this art, my dining companion (DC) and I worked up an appetite and were off for some food, fodder for the next blog post.

Another fun evening of food and art and another posting on Forks.

Main Gallery-FGCU Arts Complex

10501 FGCU Blvd. S.

Fort Myers, FL 33965

(239)590-7199