Tom Hall

America 250. It’s a nonpartisan initiative to engage every American in commemorating the 250th anniversary of our country. The Florida Legislature is joining in. It plans to award $1 million in grants this month to arts organizations doing America250 programming. Grant or no grant, Opera Naples will perform two America250 shows, says Executive Director Melanie Kalnins.

Florida Rep’s Education Conservatory is performing “Shrek the Musical JR.” this weekend and next. Don’t be fooled by the "JR.," says Florida Rep’s Education Director Monique Caldwell. “Shrek the Musical JR.” contains professional staging, singing and performances by her cast of 37 local youth actors.

Shah Hadjebi, Marti Koehler, Mariapia Malerba, and Wilson McCray are painting a mural on paper at BIG ARTS now through October 24. It’s a mammoth project - as tall as a person and as long as a football field with both end zones included. It’s also the first time the four artists have worked with each other, says Malerba.

The Urbanite Theatre Modern Works Festival begins Thursday with comedian Phoebe Potts’ tour de force, “Too Fat for China.” Next week, the festival will present staged readings of new plays by three powerhouse female playwrights: Stacey Isom Campbell, Jenny Stafford and Sarah Cho.

It’s the end of an era. In the run-up to global celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Robert Rauschenberg’s birth, the artist’s foundation intends to sell his property on Captiva Island. It has operated an artist residency there since 2012.

Mary LeGarde is a shapeshifter. Depending on the motif and emotion, she may work in Figurative Realism, Impressionism, Surrealism or Narrative Art. For her painting in this year’s Naples Invitational, she combined Figurative Realism with Cubism. It was a necessity. Her muse was Pablo Picasso. The man pioneered the notion of artistic shapeshifting.

This week, three shows open, two shows close and four shows continue their runs at Southwest Florida equity and community theaters. Plus, the 2025 Modern Works Festival opens at Urbanite Theatre with a limited run of Phoebe Potts’ “Too Fat for China.”

The Belle Theatre opens this season with an ode to modern Broadway called “Standing O.”

Artists Tammra Sigler and Carolyn Reed are tethered by loss. For Sigler, it’s the loss of her husband of 62 years. He’s in her painting “Blocks and Clouds.” Carolyn Reed’s mother died when Reed was 20 years old. She's embedded a recently discovered photograph of her mom in the trunk of one of the trees in her mixed media work, "A Sense of Place."

Visitors demand cultural experiences. The Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau has created a place-making initiative to give visitors what they covet.