The monthly Fort Myers Art Walk has transformed downtown with student performances, art and community spirit.
Held from 6 to 10 p.m. on the first Friday of every month, the event draws a crowd of art enthusiasts, students and community change-makers alike. April's version featured student artists and performers from 49 schools across the School District of Lee County.
Dr. Jason Thomashefsky, fine and performing arts coordinator for Lee County, played a key role in organizing the event.
“Arts are sometimes only pushed in the school district, but it's good to show the community that arts are alive in our school system and that we are teaching our students how to be future artists,” Thomashefsky said.
For 10 years, Thomashefsky worked as an elementary music teacher in Lee County. He studied music education at Rowan University in New Jersey.
“I was a saxophone player, I sing in operas, I’m a photographer. So, I try to do a little bit of everything,” Thomashefsky said. “I got a chance to help spread the arts across the county and I took it. I’m a huge art person.”
Thomashefsky said the Art Walk is held in collaboration with the River District Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for downtown businesses and residents.
“We partner with the River District Alliance, so anybody who’s a partner with them, partners with us,” Thomashefsky said. “This is normally their event, they give it to us for free and so we partner with them as well as their groups that they bring in.”
Thomashefsky said he is like the “CEO” of the event.
“I’d contact all the teachers, I communicated out to the community, ordered all the stuff. My job is to make sure it runs. I schedule it,” Thomashefsky said. “A community is tied to its culture, whether it be through art or community-building activities like [the Art Walk].”
Samantha Maddox is a guest teacher at South Fort Myers High School. She instructs the band, orchestra, choir and dance programs at the high school.
“The school is a little newer to the county, so we’ve got a lot of diverse students in the group and they’re all playing different instruments,” Maddox said.
South Fort Myers High School is one of the schools identified with the Title I designation by Lee County. This means that a large proportion of students at the school are economically disadvantaged.
“These opportunities to perform and make music with these students are hard to come by. We don’t have a lot of funding for instruments,” Maddox said. “None of the students really own their instruments because that’s not within their ability financially.”
South Fort Myers High School’s jazz ensemble and color guard performed at the Art Walk in April.
“We had a lot of Latin charts in there — we had some cha-chá, we had some paso, we had some salsa. We also featured some songs from pop culture; we [played] the ‘Cowboy Bebop’ theme song,” Maddox said. “We had three different dance groups, all self-choreographed by the students. They worked in their small groups to create something that they could put out, and that was their debut performance of these [dances].”
Alexandra Petrizzo, an art teacher, and Lillian Perez, an instructional support staff member, both teach at Buckingham Exceptional Student Center in Lee County. The school serves students with special needs from pre-K through age 22.
Perez began to work with special needs students after her own experience with her oldest son.
“I decided when he went to school for the first time, in kindergarten, that I wanted to be in the school, so I could teach him,” Perez said. “Well, our school, we 100% take care of these kids with all their needs. [Gen-ed] schools, they have inclusion, but it is very different from what we have in our school.”
Staff work with students who have a range of disabilities. Petrizzo said the school serves children with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injuries and other conditions — many of whom use wheelchairs or require specialized care.
“A lot of them use different means to communicate… so they’re not exactly verbal but they do have a lot to say, they just express what they need in different ways than you and I are used to,” Petrizzo said. “We watch a lot of these kids kind of grow up in front of our eyes across the years, which is really nice.”
Buckingham offers physical education, life skills classes, music therapy and other resources to its students.
“It’s a lot different from a gen-ed school. It’s kind of one of those places where if you go and see it with your own eyes, it’s amazing the stuff that goes on.”
“Personally, I had no idea about [Buckingham] until I went to FGCU to be a special education teacher. I think a lot of people don’t know about us unless they have a child that has special needs that happens to be in the school,” Petrizzo said. “I feel like getting us out in the community opens the community’s eyes as to what goes on here and what our school is all about.”
At the Art Walk, Buckingham sold student artwork, and attendees had the option to support art classes by purchasing supplies or donating to the school’s Amazon wish list.
“I feel like a lot of people get the idea that these kids are only capable of so much, which is not the case at all, like I said, they cannot communicate the way you and I do, but they have a lot to say, and some of the stuff that they can do despite their disabilities is amazing,” Petrizzo said.
Celia Rubin is the president and founder of Mr. Lucky Dog’s Sanctuary, one of the community organizations at the Art Walk.
Mr. Lucky Dog’s Sanctuary, in Alva, Florida, is home to 10 dogs — all of them seniors, in hospice care or living with special needs.
“I’ve always had a passion for dogs, and I’ve been working in the rescue world for years, and there’s a huge need for rescuing of seniors, special needs dogs, hospice dogs, because everybody wants a cute puppy and so many people are discarding their old dogs,” Rubin said.
On average, Mr. Lucky Dog’s Sanctuary rescues dogs that are 12-years-old. The sanctuary receives surrendered animals for a variety of reasons.
“They’re sick and they can’t afford the care. They’re moving and they can’t take care of their dogs. These are just general excuses we get daily,” Rubin said. “I think people don’t realize how much life there really is with a senior dog.”
Mr. Lucky Dog’s Sanctuary is going on its seventh year of operation — Rubin said that the organization had over 30 senior dogs it cared for until they died.
Art Walk gives the opportunity to nonprofits such as Mr. Lucky Dog’s Sanctuary to fundraise and spread awareness of their work in the community. At the event, Mr. Lucky Dog’s Sanctuary sold different beverages — including water and sodas.
Last year, Rubin said Mr. Lucky Dog’s Sanctuary paid $26,000 in vet bills alone. “When we do this as a fundraiser, we raise approximately a little over $1,000. That thousand dollars is likely to help us feed almost all the dogs for six months.”
As Art Walk returns next month, students and schools will once again fill downtown Fort Myers with art, music and spirit.
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