| | |  Vallarta Living | Art Talk | August 2008 
New Deadline for the Boca Raton Artists’ Guild With No Permanent Home in Sight
 PRNews
Boca Raton – August 24, 2008 The Artists’ Guild of Boca Raton, its Images Gallery and all of its 445 artists and Members will be homeless beginning October 2008. After receiving their official 60 day notice this month to vacate their current temporary space held at Mizner Park, they now face an urgency to relocate within this short timeframe.
They were hoping to be moved into the new Mizner Park Cultural Building as a permanent home that was formally the Cartoon Museum before their lease expires. But unfortunately this opportunity is dwindling as the months pass. This space is now in jeopardy due to construction and code issues. The loss of this space also means the loss of the build-out grant for the new gallery. The Artists’ Guild needs urgent assistance from the community to secure a real home so that it can continue to present high caliber exhibitions of original fine art by South Florida artists, as it has done for over 50 years. Unless a new location is identified quickly, the next Images show opening reception on Wednesday, August 27th, at 6 PM will be the last Images exhibition presented by The Artists’ Guild for the foreseeable future including the monthly Art Walk held at Mizner Park. South Florida Artists, Connoisseurs, and Collectors have long known the importance of art and how it enhances the quality of life for South Palm Beach County, making it a great place to live and work.
The Artists’ Guild is a non-profit Auxiliary of The Boca Raton Museum of Art, and continues to uphold some of the highest standards of Art professionals presenting in their yearly juried competitions and collaborating with Florida’s” best of the best” in the Art Industry to be jurors of their events. Since 1954, the Guild has grown into an organization of over 450 artists and art lovers and sponsored over 20 juried exhibitions of original fine art throughout the year. The Guild provides the very foundation of support that many artists need, especially in today’s lackluster economy and scarce funding for the arts that have already closed many of the state’s programs, like the “Artist Enhancement Grant” which recently closed due to lack of funding.
The Artists’ Guild remains an essential backdrop to the City of Boca Raton’s artistic heritage and spotlights the many diverse high caliber mediums of art from oils, pastels, acrylics, photography, sculptures, and so many new mediums yet to be discovered. Every month new artists join the Guild. Some are veterans of the arts, some are just out of Art school eager to have their work juried by other professional artists, and learning from their peers in an environment completely dedicated to the arts. They come in and volunteer weekly at the Images Gallery, where the public can meet the Artist, ask questions, discuss the artwork, attend monthly exhibits, and become an intricate part of the robust art scene at Mizner Park
The artists unquestionably work hard and are very dedicated to their medium; it would be heartrending to see 445 plus Members lose their main exhibition site, “The Images Gallery”, which is a primary catalyst for Guild activities and promotes many of South Florida’s art events that are free to the public’ such as the “Art Walk at Mizner Park”, “Boca Raton Festival Days 23rd Annual Art Exhibition”, “Biennial Art Exhibition and the “Boca High School Art Exhibit”. The Artists’ Guild continually supports these artists wholeheartedly in providing exhibiting venues, website promotions for the artists, as well as, additional encouragement for individual artists to step forward and become known to many art connoisseurs in the community. A variety of opportunities that is outreached to the artists’ who are participating and actively lending their support to the Palm Beach County art scene and other charitable organizations involved with The Artists’ Guild. It’s hard to imagine one of Boca Raton’s most important cultural organizations will soon be stranded without any other options for a home.
With no solution in sight, the Artists are now facing a dismal macabre, a portrait of an interment Guild. A soon to be empty room that once held their vibrant monthly exhibition events that displayed a gamut of artwork to the community by some of the most gifted artists. As public officials, and developers take their time to mull it over, another imminent part of the city’s history will fade away quietly. The artworks will soon be taken off the walls and given back to the artists, the floors will be swept and dusted, and the lights will perpetually flicker off, the once colorful masterpieces of the beloved South Florida Artists.
We need to preserve this historical organization, who’s immense contribution had molded the very downtown art district that is now developed in the City of Boca Raton, including the formation of The Boca Raton Museum of Art. At a time when Boca Raton had only one mall, one library, and a population of less than 1000. The Guild became a vital component to the Cultural life of Boca Raton and the downtown art district of Mizner Park. An endearing history of displaying masterpieces that would have otherwise been a hidden treasure to a community unacquainted with some of Florida most talented and respected artists.
With less than 60 days left on their lease, the artists are struggling to remain optimistic waiting to see if the community and City supporters will unite and aid in their plight. A lifeline to many professional artists armed with only canvasses of prayers and hope. Their Artists’ Guild will also have a permanent place within an art loving community to call “Home”.
For more information visit The Artists’ Guild website at: http://www.bocamuseumartistguild.org/
459 Plaza Real ~ Mizner Park ~ Boca Raton ~ Florida ~ 33432 ~ Tel : 561 393-9115 |
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