sculpture

It has been almost a year since Hurricane Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. As the Category 4 storm crossed the unbridged shark-shaped island en route to southern Punta Gorda, its eyewall came within less than ten miles of Fort Myers’ most iconic public artwork, known to most by her decades-long nickname of Rachel at the Well. The cast concrete sculpture suffered substantial structural and cosmetic damage when the heavy wrought-iron fence that stood behind her crashed down on her lovely head.

Public art in some Florida locations was nearly non-existent at the turn of this century. Nowadays there are other cities trying to emulate the kinds and scope of public art placed in these same locations.

The 37th Annual All Florida Juried Exhibit is on view this month in the main gallery of the Alliance for the Arts. The show continues to grow in stature and statewide recognition, as evidenced by the fact that the Alliance received 120 more submissions this year than it did in 2022. That presented this year’s juror, Grace Gdaniec, with quite the challenge when it came to deciding which 60 or so works to include in this year’s exhibition.

Something exciting is happening in Sarasota. Public artworks are cropping everywhere you look and residents and tourists aren’t just taking notice. They’re stopping, engaging, and basking in the ambiance. It's all part of the Sarasota Office of Public Art’s master plan.

Matthew Shlian worked as a paper engineer and in industrial paper design, and now focuses his energies producing art in paper. From pop-up books to…