Gulf Coast Life

The Cape Coral Art Center is featuring a retrospective exhibition of works by Pine Island-based painter Zan Lombardo titled “Larger Than Life Watercolors” in reference to the large-scale watercolor scrolls that Lombardo is perhaps best known for. We’ll have an encore presentation of our recent conversation with Lombardo about her unique artistic practice, what inspires her paintings, and the evolution of her work over time.

Cold water swimming and plunging have gotten a lot of attention lately. Chris Ballard is here to tell us all about them.

Cottage food laws are what create the rules under which people can make certain kinds of food products in their home kitchens and then sell them without a commercial kitchen license or a state inspection or traditional food permits. Primary examples are baked goods like bread, or jams or honey. A 2021 law expanded the rules, and the cottage food industry nationwide has grown in the past decade or so, wo learn about how Florida's laws work, what people interested in selling their home homemade products should know, and why more people are choosing cottage food sales as a side hustle. Our guests are Dr. Stephanie Brown and Jen Hagen, both agents with UF/IFAS.

The nonpartisan nonprofit, Floridians for Democracy, is holding a Rally for Hope on Saturday, Aug. 29. They chose the date to coincide with the anniversary of the historic March on Washington that brought about 250,000 people to Washington, D.C. in 1963 to advocate for the civil and economic rights of Black Americans. Organizers say it’s meant to be a nonpartisan gathering rather than a protest, with a focus on promoting voter participation & civic engagement, and the moral traditions of the civil rights movement. We talk with FFD co-founder, Jim Nathan, and one of the event planners, Sonya McCarter, founder of Bridging the Gap Center for the Arts in Fort Myers.

Theatre Conspiracy is closing it’s the summer season with a production of Carey Crim’s comedy “What Springs Forth.” We’ll talk with cast members Tiffany Campbell, Anne Reed, and Lucy Sundby.

Voters choose Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat David Jolly as their parties’ respective nominees in the race for Florida Governor. In a surprise upset, Democratic State Rep. Angie Nixon defeated Lt. Col. Alex Vindman in the Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate. She now faces incumbent Ashley Moody in the November General Election. Primary contests for U.S. House seats in the sunshine state were loaded with candidates, but voters by-and-large choose to back incumbents. We’ll take a closer look at the results and what they’re setting up for the General Election in a conversation with FGCU Political Science Professor Sandra Pavelka, Ph.D., and UCF Political Scientist Aubrey Jewett, Ph.D.

Mac Stone is an award-winning conservation photographer and a National Geographic Explorer. His work focuses on swamps and wetlands — he says he's trying to change public opinion towards these often misunderstood and maligned ecosystems. We discuss his new book is "Cypress: The Last Old-Growth Swamps" which is filled with photographs of the American South’s ancient wetlands and intricate webs of life that grow beneath ancient cypress canopies, including Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

About 75% of the world’s flowering plants and about 30% of crops rely on pollinators. Things like habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change, and invasive species are all threats to pollinator populations, which are truly essential for both ecological balance and food security. On August 22-23 Floridians can do their part as citizen scientists to help researchers keep tabs on the health of pollinator populations by participating in the Great Southeast Pollinator Census. To participate, during those two days you simply pick one or more plants in your yard that attract pollinators and watch them closely for 15 minutes and count each time an insect lands on the plant, and then upload that information into a database.

The Cape Coral Art Center is featuring a retrospective exhibition of works by Pine Island-based painter Zan Lombardo titled “Larger Than Life Watercolors” in reference to the large-scale watercolor scrolls that Lombardo is perhaps best known for. We talk with Lombardo about her unique artistic practice, what inspires her paintings, and the evolution of her work over time.

Laurien Papa Bartuccio co-founded The Bridge for Women. It provides trauma-informed peer support for survivors of domestic abuse in Collier, Lee, Charlotte, and Hendry counties.