AGOSA A-Go-Go!

 

The big buzz!

You can feel the energy in the air. The gallery is filled with people, clustered in groups, standing around a few tables of delicious looking food. There is lots of laughter, chatter, and a cacophony of subdued exclamations. The occasional vocal burst of recognition and many nodding heads. What’s the buzz?

The AGOSA A-Go-Go is what‘s buzzing!

Artists and Gallery-Owners at the AGOSA Social

The Art Galleries of Saint Augustine (AGOSA) has a brand new board! Sylvia Gortz, artist and co-owner of The Gallery Group has recently become the new president and is assisted every sparkly new step of the way by Laura O’Neal, Julie Dickover, and Marlena Zullig. The new, old organization has cooked up a social gathering for all galleries and artists of this quaint, little drinking town with a fishing problem (the official description, not the invention of yours truly). Art affiliated businesses and institutions and other assorted interested people have also been invited. By all means, do not mistake this for a business meeting or networking evening! We are here to have fun and to make friends.

Laura O'Neal, Vice President AGOSA, speaking with enthusiasm

A little yawner!

For more than a century, art lovers and artists have gravitated to little Saint Augustine, the first Spanish immigrant settlement and oldest city in our nation. The natural beauty of the environment, the boisterous seascape, the rich Spanish history, and the architectural land-marks seduce the imagination of many a visitor. In the late 19^th century, Henry Flagler, a wealthy railroad developer, invited affluent friends and famous artists to his opulent Ponce de Leon Hotel. He generously provided them with art studios and a steady stream of art-enthusiastic patrons. According to Robert W. Torchia, an art historian with the University of Pennsylvania, this town was a “thriving cultural community that attracted hundreds of American artists” (2002). In 1931, when the Great Depression plagued the United States, a few business-smart resident artists founded the St. Augustine Arts Club which became the Saint Augustine Art Association in 1948. The goal of this organization was to promote the European charm of this small town to tourists through the arts. As a result of this “unusual alliance between culture and commerce,” a vibrant art community emerged. Today, an abundance of galleries are thriving in Saint Augustine. The laid-back atmosphere, art-inspired ambiance, and popular art events and festivals continue to attract artists, musicians, writers and art lovers from all corners of the globe.

St. George Street, Looking South 1949 - Emmett Fritz - Oil on Board

The low-down!

While the Art Association is still operating and concentrating on other branches of the arts, local galleries and artists organized themselves into the AGOSA organization to help and support each other in business and the arts. In 1990, however, there were about ten members left and the organization was run by one person. So, in 2012, Jan Miller (Butterfield Garage Art Gallery), Ginny Bullard (Amiro Gallery), and Elyse Brady (St. Augustine Art Association) decided to take over and start a revival of AGOSA. Gallery membership increased and the new board designed and published a colorful brochure including a map. They created a Facebook page, initiated the First Friday Art Walk event, and added an annual Art Walk booklet including a map. In February of this year, the new board became official. Sylvia, Laura, Julie D., Julie S., and Marlene took over the reins from Jan, Ginny, and Elyse. 

AGOSA board members: Sylvia, Laura, Marlene, Julie S. (Julie D. was absent)

Sylvia Gortz is from New York, and she moved to Florida in 2005.  Her partner, Tom Tilley, is originally from Jacksonville Beach. Two hurricanes tested their patience and limits, but they were finally able to open their new gallery called The Gallery Group.  As acting curator of the gallery, Sylvia was interested in joining AGOSA to be part of the organization and art community. She contacted Ginny Bullard, president of AGOSA at the time, and together they worked on a scholarship program for AGOSA, which was given to the R.J. Murray Middle School Center for the Arts. The hard work put in by the talented art students under this program accumulated in an elaborate and fantastic student art exhibition, hosted by The Gallery Group, in March of this year. Sylvia and Ginny spoke at length. Ginny was in the process of closing Amiro Gallery and was also looking for a successor to the AGOSA presidency. Sylvia turned out to be the right person in the right place at the right time.

Sylvia Gortz, President AGOSA

The energy of the new team is catchy and fascinating. Many new plans and ideas are developing, often causing texts to fly around. The enthusiasm is tangible. Going by the new mission statement, the board members actively seek to befriend every single gallery, artist, supporting business, and other interested people and organizations to build an inclusive art community to support and encourage cooperation, motivation, and inspiration through art and business-related endeavors. Memberships are offered in tiers with enticing public relations perks like a YouTube video, among the regular social media marketing. Monthly gatherings on the last Wednesday of the month, hosted by galleries all around town are being organized. A new and improved, larger size magazine with an expanded map, art events, contests, more exposure for artists, and better direct access to local artists are also items on the agenda being worked on. 

The existing map and list of galleries in St. Augustine

AGOSA is looking for cover art for the new magazine and is getting ready to put out a contest. Be sure to look out for the exciting chance to create and design an image that sums up everything that is typical, good, fun, and arts-related about this beautiful little town. For more information about this and other contests, call AGOSA at the number provided below.

The fun part!

FIRST FRIDAY ARTWALK. The Art Galleries of Saint Augustine founded and sponsors the award-winning First Friday Art Walk event on the first Friday of every month from 5-9pm. Select art exhibits, live music, and refreshments are offered by the member galleries throughout downtown and on Anastasia Island.

Every first Friday of the month

Immerse yourself in the art culture and explore a diverse world of color and new perspectives offered by the art galleries in St. Augustine. Stroll along the main streets and wander off down the side streets of this beautiful town. Our eclectic collection of galleries has just about everything you might want. Whether you desire classical art, modern art, sculpture, paintings, photography, jewelry, oils, pastels, ceramics, wood, textiles, or metal, there will be a gallery in St. Augustine catering to your taste. Whatever your interest may be, Art Galleries of St. Augustine showcases an amazing variety of artwork created by local and national artists.

Inspired by the boisterous seascape - Vilano Beach by Ryan Flannery - oil on panel

Visitors can start the free, self-guided tour at any of the AGOSA galleries. Most galleries are within close walking distance to each other and some are just a short ride away. Hop aboard the free Art Walk trains and trolleys that run throughout downtown.

So?

Art Galleries of St. Augustine is an association of the many diverse and eclectic art galleries in StAuggie, as the locals call their beloved town, that range from local artist-owned businesses to elegant exhibition halls and museums. These galleries and venues offer outstanding collections of local, regional, national, and international artists. When shopping at any of the affiliated member galleries, the customer can be confident in knowing that he or she is dealing with quality artwork, personalized customer service, and integrity of assisting staff with the support of the art community. 

The evening was a great success! Everybody left inspired and ready to make new friends and start buzzing!

Next AGOSA A-Go-Go Social:

May 30, 2018
5:30-7:30pm
Butterfield Garage Art Gallery

137 W King St # B, St Augustine, FL 32084

AGOSA Board Members:

Sylvia Gortz, President – Mixed Media Artist / The Gallery Group
Laura O'Neal, Vice President – Painter/Designer/Poet / Butterfield Garage Art Gallery
Julie Dickover, Treasurer – Director of the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum
Marlene Zullig, Secretary – Stained Glass Artist / P.A.St.A. Fine Art Gallery

Julie Smith, Creative Liaison - Photographer / Media Specialist

Contact:

(832) 779-2781

www.artgalleriesofstaugustine.com
staugartgalleries@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/StAugFirstFridayArtWalk
Artwalk Hours: 5:00-9:00 PM

Work Cited:

Art Galleries of St. Augustine. (2018). Art Galleries of St. Augustine Catalogue 2018 (2^nd ed.). St. Augustine, FL: author.

Torchia, R.W. (2002, June).Lost Colony: The Artists of St. Augustine, 1930-1950.            Resource Library Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa288a.htm

An Evening with Stasia

 

Craig, Ray, and Steve of Stasia

“I was playing my broken guitar with only one string on the corner of a street when I met Steve, who just happened to fly by...,” Craig, the lead guitarist, jokes after I ask the members of the band how they all met. I walked into the garage while the band was practicing “Jumping Jack Flash” by the Rolling Stones. Immediately after, seemingly without anybody cueing, a spontaneous and solid version of “Evil Ways” by Santana broke out. With Ray singing, some impressive keyboard, guitar, drum bridges and solos had a party in my ears. I settled on the steps of the garage inner door and sipped a glass of wine while enjoying the songs. The band graciously decided to take a short break and talk to me about their brand new 70s cover group.

Stasia originally started as a garage band. Nothing underground, just guys gathering to jam on their instruments in a garage on warm Florida weekday evenings. Ranging in ages, interests, and backgrounds, they all seem to have found enthusiasm for their common taste in music. Their initial meeting was nothing as romantic or fictitious as meeting on a street corner or anybody flying by – the word “Craigslist” was mumbled and laughed off quickly. “I saw them at Sarbez and decided that they needed a keyboard player,” interjected Rich, who is an optometrist by day. “And I joined them at an improv evening,” laughs John, the drummer. I noticed that they certainly had connected in a new brotherhood.

Stasia from left to right: Rich, Ray, Steve, John, and Craig

In no particular order of importance, Stasia consists of Steve Thompson (guitar, harmonica), Ray Niederriter (bass guitar), Craig Antley (lead guitar), Rich Greene (keyboard), and brand new drummer John Tremel (drums). They all sing too. Together, they generally choose to cover songs from classic rock artists like Santana, Tom Petty, Beatles, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, or Rolling Stones. While I am gathering this information, Steve, a pilot during the day, brings out his harmonica. While also playing guitar and singing, “Angel from Montgomery,” originally performed by John Prine, rings through the garage. These guys are brimming with talent and musical energy.

Apart, the members of Stasia have performed in many places. Craig, for example, opened with a previous band for Chris Stapleton. As Revoc, the former name of the band, they have performed locally at Planet Sarbez, O’Laughlins, Colonial Oak, Hurricane Patties, and the Crow Bar. With John as the new drummer, they are currently building up their repertoire and extending their potential venue reach. They aim to perform at festivals, weddings, and many other hot spots around town. They also recently appointed Ashley Berg as their new manager. Ashley is ready to book this exciting band to lighten up your evening and bring dance and laughter to your party. As I finish my wine and say goodbye to my new favorite band, the guys start to jam themselves into another spontaneous song. We will definitely hear more from Stasia.

Contact Ashley Berg at bergalerg@gmail.com

Or send a message through Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/stasiaband/

Oracle of Seasons

costumes … canvases … poetry … leather masks

Laura O’Neal

artist & designer

Laura O’Neal is excited to be a featured artist/designer for the fourth year running at the “Love Your Mother Eco-Fashion Show” at Marsh Landing Country Club in Ponte Vedra, FL on Saturday, March 31. At the culmination of this twelve months project, Laura will be eager to demonstrate her fantastical magical creations at Butterfield Garage Art Gallery on First Friday Art Walk in St. Augustine on April 6, 2018. Her models will be informally modeling at the gallery that evening from 5 to 9 pm. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Cultural Council at Ponte Vedra Beach. The exhibit will be ongoing through the month of April.

masks

Her theme is inspired by the seasons and her presentation is called “An Oracle of Seasons.” Laura has not only created the innovative and imaginative costumes for the show, using eco-friendly and recycled materials, but she also painted the creations on canvas and wrote original poetry to accompany the pieces.

Spring

The art project “Oracle of Seasons” has been a year in the making. Laura has been creating exciting costumes with recycled and trashed materials. The pièces de résistance of the four outfits are leather masks representing spring, summer, fall, and winter. A year ago, she picked up a couple of handbags and leather totes that had been thrown curbside on trash morning.  As the plans for the “Love Your Mother Eco Fashion Show” began to form, and Laura was invited to participate, she decided to make masks with the leather of the discarded purses. The idea to work and re-work leather has been an item on her bucket list of art projects for a long time.  She wanted the creations to be something she would be proud to show at any gallery or art exhibition. 

Summer

Laura received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Art and Design from the University of Akron, Ohio. She is a mixed-media artist, as well as a great designer, poet, and lyricist. Her art is very upbeat, colorful, and at first sight whimsical. Upon closer inspection, however, one can feel her musings and spiritual ponderings behind the visual aspects of her creations. Although she finds inspiration in all things small and large around her, she gets deeply excited about the written word. She often translates her spiritual inspiration into her art.

Fall

Laura has served on the board of artist members of Butterfield Garage Art Gallery for about two years and is still represented by the same. She has recently been voted to fill the position of Vice President for the Associated Galleries of Saint Augustine (AGOSA), which started rekindling ties with the Saint Johns Cultural Council (SJCC). Laura is also in charge of curation with STArt, curators at large, a service agency to bring original local art together with any available wall space.

Winter

The creations of the “Love Your Mother Eco Fashion Show” with the recycled clothes and masks inspired visual art, performance, and poetry. The collection of fashion costumes, canvases, poetry, and masks will be on display at Butterfield Garage Art Gallery in St. Augustine for First Friday Art Walk on April 6, 2018.

Butterfield Garage Art Gallery – 137 W King St # B, St. Augustine, FL –  (904) 825-4577

Presented by STArt CuratorsAtLarge  - startcuration@gmail.com

A day with abstract artist Robyn Andrews

A day with abstract artist Robyn Andrews

Robyn Andrews

It took me fifteen minutes fiddling with my out-of-data cell phone and forty more to get to where I needed to be to meet abstract artist Robyn Andrews for an early lunch. I was late, but she graciously welcomed me with open arms, and we chatted almost non-stop about our respective art, children, and food preferences. We had met about a month ago during the Resistance art show at The Union in Jacksonville, Florida, where she had sparked my curiosity about her work. We had set up a lunch date at Uptown Kitchen and Bar and she offered to show me around her solo exhibition called Change and Permanence, showing several abstract series at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum. To top off the afternoon, she invited me to her studio in one of the buildings of the CoRK Arts District’s many warehouses. Both these venues are also in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum

Robyn Andrews is the new kid on the art-block. After recently having left a physically and emotionally abusive relationship, she needed time and means to work through the various levels of emotional impact on her psyche and life. Deeply engaged with her subconscious and complex dreams, she started creating her stark and often geometrical abstracts with acrylics, oils, and mix her media freely when called for. Inspired by Greek Mythology and the philosophy of human nature and centuries tried diction of ancient philosophers like Plato, she shares her most inner pain with us through her perceptions and uses color and composition to interactively stimulate emotional reactions of the viewer.

 Robyn recently studied at the Fare Pittura Atelier e Scuola d’Arte in Milan, Italy under the personal direction of master watercolorist and oil painter Francesco Fontana. Apart from the odd lone piece of abstract mastery, she prefers to work in series of three or five harmonizing panels to emphasize her stories and accounts of human suffering. The venue of her solo exhibition, running through May and June of this year, is a force of architectural nature on its own and a suitably sultry locale for explorations of the human essentialities of being.

Inside view Karpeles - The Reflections series below

            One of ten such museums in the United States, the Karpeles Manuscript Museum in Jacksonville, located at 101 West 1st Street (formerly 1116 North Laura Street), was constructed in 1921 and mostly used by the First Church of Christ Scientists. The building was constructed in Neo-Classical style with smooth Doric columns, wide entry steps, and an imposing Greek architecture-style façade. In 1992 the congregation sold the building to David Karpeles, a former math professor who had made millions investing in real estate and then taken up manuscript collecting. In 1983 he began opening museums across the country to house his collections which are now one of the largest in the world. The Jacksonville museum features three or four exhibits a year, mostly from the private collection of David and his wife Marsha Karpeles’ collections. The museum also exhibits material from other collectors. The archives include literature, science, religion, history, and art. Throughout the year, artists of various disciplines are invited to exhibit their work either in solo or group shows. In April of this year, the board invited Robyn Andrews to hold her solo exhibition at the museum. She exhibits five series and a few large, single canvasses in her show titled Change and Permanence. 

The Dissociation series

Dissociation II

            Robyn led me through the exposition going clockwise around the room. Since her work is based on personal experience and philosophically based stories, she had made a map for the viewer with brief explanations of the influences and thought-trails leading up to the final work. In Change and Permanence, Robyn mostly explores the philosophies of Plato. Within four of the five series, she conveys abstract representations of rational platonic concepts like his Theory of Good and Evil, where the essence of being is goodness, or The Good, in which virtues provide the right relationship between all that exists and the mind of the Divine and where evil is simply the absence of The Good and thus described as immoral. In her “The Dissociation” series, Robyn addresses her personal tribulations relating to the absence of good and explain her frequently occurring dissociative episodes, which she translates into geometrical basics and textured black on white. 

 

From The Trilogy of the Indfinite Dyad series

            Walking on, we see her “Trilogy of the Indefinite Dyad” series. She expresses her view on the totality of reality derived from the interaction of multiple realities, where the more chaotic something is, the stronger the presence of the Indefinite Dyad is. Throughout her work, Robyn explores Plato’s Theory of Forms, or Ideas, where non-physical forms represent the most accurate reality, and she makes a brave attempt to communicate her existential reflections during her recovery through her series called “The Divided Line“. In five panels, she takes up the visible and intelligible realms of the psyche divided into four consecutive stages: conjecture, belief, thought, and understanding. The fifth panel represents the sum of all these parts in an off-centered perspective of squares. 

The Divided Line series

Conjecture

Conjecture and Form

            Robyn prefers to work mostly with primary and secondary colors, which she decisively renders in prismatic and saturated values. When entering the room, it is immediately noticeable, that she has a strong fondness for reds and oranges. Each individual piece is laden with symbolism, mainly understood through her excellent storytelling and relay of her personal pain and musings on reality and emphasized by the flaming hues. Although Robyn feels a deep connection with the multitude of platonic theories and allegories, she is very much a contemporary abstractist and clearly understands the potential effects of creating art, harmonizing colors, and using hand-eye coordination on the subconscious of a person. 

Robyn at work in her CoRK Arts District Studio

            One of her larger panels called "Mother, A Study of Death in Red and Blue," for which she won an Honorable Mention in the Art-N-Jax Juried Art Show of November, 2016, is proof of such psychology at work. When she was a young child, a teacher concluded, based on a blue and red crayon drawing she had made, that she had a deep hatred for her mother; words that had a deep impact on Robyn for a large part of her life. When her mother passed away in 2002, she not only came to grips with the knowledge that she, in fact, did not hate her mother, but also that she can put the colors red and blue together however she right-well pleases. This new and assertive realization also echoes through in the work that she showed me at her studio, where she took me next.

 

Mother: A Study of Death in Red and Blue - Honorable Mention Art-N-Jax, 2016

In 2015, Robyn was fortunate enough to bypass the long waiting lists to become a resident artist of CoRK Arts District Studios by occupying the vacated space of a close friend. CoRK consists of a community of seventy artists in working studios and exhibition spaces housed in abandoned warehouses in Jacksonville, Florida. The studios are closed to the public, except for special shows, exhibitions, and an annual open house in November. After she gave me the tour, she visibly relaxes in her personal surroundings and tells me more about her mother and grandmother. Tubes of paint, pots and jars of used brushes, dried up palettes, and a vast variety of cans and bottles with a multitude of medium substances are spread around the room. An old but comfortable divan protrudes into the room. Old work is covering the walls and I study them while listening to Robyn telling me some of their history. The bustling of other artists in the building is quite present, so she puts on some music. New oeuvre is abundantly in the making, and it involves paint on nudes and printing bodies on canvas. It is exciting to see the process in various stages of progress. We hug, promise to see each other again, I thank her for everything and leave. The art-block can definitely expect many more inspirational creations from his small but emotionally courageous woman and artist.

For more information:

Robyn Andrews website: http://41art.godaddysites.com/

Change and Permanence - Solo Exhibition Robyn Andrews

Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum

101 W. 1^st Street

Jacksonville, FL 32206

Closing Reception Friday, June 23^rd, 2017 from 5-8pm

Sources:

Andrews, Robyn. Artist, CoRK Arts District. <Instagram.com/41artlife>.                                    <http://41art.godaddysites.com>. Photographs for this article.

Cerri-Bartels, Sylvia. Photographs for this article.

Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums. The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums.                                               RAIN. Web. 20 June 2017.

Plato. Republic. Trans. Robin Waterfield. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Print.

Wikipedia contributors. "Plato's unwritten doctrines." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.                                   Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Dec. 2016. Web. 20 June 2017