Leepa Exhibitions 2010
North Gallery
Aug. 1 - 29
Hal Stowers: Coastal Florida Fragilities
Crystal Beach resident Hal Stowers is an artist and environmentalist who has documented the beauty, changes and challenges affecting Florida's Gulf Coast. Over the past 40 years, Stowers has used his art to draw attention to the fragility of our coastal areas while encouraging activist preservation of these natural resources.
Stowers writes, “Through my art, my wife B.J. and I became a part of an early grassroots movement that was successful in bringing about legislation to halt rampant dredge-andfill operations and preserve pristine, jewel-like barrier islands and other sensitive coastal ecosystems.” Egmont Key, Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island in Pinellas County and the Robert E. Crown Wilderness Park in Pasco County are just a few of the preserved areas that the Stowerses have actively fought to protect. Stowers has been recognized for his environmental efforts during the American Bicentennial (1976), 50th anniversary of the Florida State Park system (1985), Pinellas County 75th Diamond Jubilee (1987) and Year of the Gulf of Mexico (1993).
As an artist, Stowers has mastered a variety of media – pen and ink drawings, oil and acrylic canvases, watercolor, color lithographs, hand-colored etching aquatints, monotypes, and stainless steel sculpture – to express his passion and concern for the natural environment. For this four-decade retrospective exhibition, 58 pieces representing these media plus a video and artists' book serve to define the Stowers' concept of creative LIFE BLENDING® for “experiencing the intrinsic value of our natural environment in elevating the human spirit.”
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| SPC Art Faculty Exhibition Kim Kirchman |
South Gallery
Aug. 1 - 29
2nd Annual Visual Arts Faculty of St. Petersburg College Exhibition
Included are works by full-time and adjunct faculty from the Clearwater and Tarpon Springs campuses. The exhibition demonstrates the commitment and dedication of SPC instructors to nurture arts education while displaying the high standards for their personal artistic development. Please enjoy the many talents of SPC's visual arts faculty.
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| Patricia Miller's Queen of the Road, 2008 On loan from the artist |
Focus Gallery
May 30 - Aug. 29, 2010
Doors, Porches and Victorian Dreams: Pen and Ink Drawings by Patricia Miller
Patricia Miller is a retired arts educator and administrator who dedicated herself to the advancement of the visual arts for students of all ages. Throughout her long career, Miller has served in numerous capacities including as a public school art teacher, Program Coordinator for the Open Campus of St. Petersburg Junior College (including The Gifted Child and College for Kids programs) and as an instructor and Chairman of Merchandising for the departments of fashion, interior and graphic design at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Tampa.
As a practicing artist, Patricia Miller is a master of pen and ink drawings, many with watercolor embellishment. Artistically, she admires architectural structures and often focuses on doors, windows and other selected building details. The Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art is honored to present this exhibition of nine works by Dr. Miller, nostalgically reminding us of the beauty that can be found in the details of architecture.
May 16 - July 18, 2010
A Memorial Tribute: Volf Roitman, from MADI to the LUDIC Revolution
Opening reception: 7-9 p.m., May 15, Lobby, members free; non-members $10
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| Volf Roitman, in 1997, behind a model for a MADI Building that was shown in a MADI exhibition at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, Spain. |
This retrospective exhibition is being held as a memorial tribute to recognize the 60-year career of Volf Roitman as an internationally known visual artist. Mr. Roitman, who lived on the west coast of Florida for the past twelve years, passed away on April 25 after a brief illness. Over his long career Roitman consistently worked in a style of geometric abstraction called MADI, while focusing on the infinite possibilities of playful expression, referred to as the LUDIC revolution. A citizen of the world, Roitman was born in Uruguay, grew up in Argentina, moved to Paris, France in his twenties, and also lived in Spain and Ireland. Roitman is credited with being instrumental in disseminating the MADI style across four continents and has been included in over 150 solo and group exhibitions around the world.
Volf Roitman first exhibited at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in 2003, along with French artist Bo Breguet, in the Heart and Mind exhibition, and in 2006 he assisted in organizing an homage show to MADI’s founder Carmello Arden Quin along with a showing of his kinetic work.
The current exhibition includes early works on paper, paper collages, contour paintings, metal sculpture, kinetic sculpture, banners, illuminated wall pieces and architectural projects. Concurrent memorial exhibitions are being held at the Frost Art Museum at Florida International University in Miami and at the University of Florence in Florence, Italy.
Volf Roitman will be remembered for his passionate creative spirit as a sculptor, painter, poet, novelist, prize-winning dramatist, cineaste and ludico trickster. In a biographic statement he prepared for this show, Roitman stated, “Throughout my career, I have considered play, fun, humor, and joy to be very serious matters indeed!” Those qualities will now continue to live on in the artwork we celebrate in this exhibition.
Feb 21- May 2, 2010
Dean Mitchell: Visions with Heart and Soul
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Dean Mitchell Rowena, 1990 |
The work of nationally and internationally acclaimed artist Dean Mitchell, recently named Florida Black History Month's featured artist, was on exhibit at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art Feb. 21 - May 2, 2010.
“I have always considered my art to reflect the journey of my life; each painting revealing a personal perception of the things, places and people who have touched my life.” – Dean Mitchell
The Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art is pleased to have been selected to premiere the first exhibition in the Tampa Bay area of nationally known artist Dean Mitchell. This retrospective exhibition, organized for the museum by guest curator Dr. Leslie Hammond of Artistic Eye Fine Arts, spans 38 years of Mitchell’s career and includes 66 drawings, watercolors, acrylic and oil paintings selected from private collections throughout the United States.
Mitchell grew up in Quincy, Florida, just west of Tallahassee, where he was raised by his beloved grandmother, who is often documented in his paintings. After receiving an art degree from Columbus College of Art in Ohio, he then worked for Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Missouri, before deciding to follow his passion and pursue a career as a fine artist. Gallery representations, exhibitions, prizes, awards and critical accolades followed and today Mitchell is recognized as one of America’s finest realist artists.
The exhibition is accompanied by a 36 page hard-bound catalogue published by LRMA. In her essay, Dr. Hammond states: “Mitchell’s motivation and meaning manifest from his past and present. For Mitchell, it’s about being true to himself and his heart.”
Through May 9, 2010
Robert Morris: Homage to Goya
Robert Morris (b. 1931) is an important contemporary American artist and art theorist. He has been a contributor to the development of the Conceptual, Performance, Land, Minimalist and Process Art movements. Constantly redefining his art, Morris in the 1980s focused on figurative works and experimented with various printmaking processes. Of influence to him were historical precedents, including the Disasters of War print series by the 19th century Spanish artist Francisco Goya. The Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art is fortunate to have works in its permanent collection from this period in Morris’ career including an untitled print (1987), and five prints from the Continuity Portfolio (1988), as well as Goya’s Populacho (Mob), from the Disasters of War (1810-15) series.
Jan. 17 - Feb. 7, 2010
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Jane Milhalik |
Miniature Art Society of Florida: 35th Annual International Miniature Art Exhibition
North and South Galleries
Awards Brunch: Sunday, Jan. 17, 9 a.m.-noon (List of award winners)
Once again a dazzling journey for the eyes! Mark your calendar because you won’t want to miss the Miniature Art Society of Florida exhibit at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, Tarpon Springs, Florida, from Jan. 17 through Feb. 7, 2010. There you will be treated to a spectacular display of miniatures – not only paintings but scrimshaw, fired porcelain, and sculpture – including works created by some of the world’s finest miniature artists. With few exceptions, all of the art is for sale.
Approximately 850 works of art will be shown, from 221 artists, in addition to the society’s permanent collection of more than 100 miniatures. The artwork is well lighted and magnifying glasses are available for the complete enjoyment of the small treasures. Most of the artists create under magnification, using a variety of mediums and methods and the tiniest of brushes for paintings. Entries from 33 states and 11 countries provide a wonderful diversity of subject matter and framing techniques. Of the approximate 1,000 works of art submitted for entry in the show, a jury of award-winning miniaturists has carefully selected only the very finest for display.
This is the third time the Miniature Art Society of Florida has exhibited at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art. We once again welcome this amazing exhibition of miniatures created by artists throughout the United States and from countries as far away as Russia, South Africa and Japan.
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Dec. 6, 2009 - April 25, 2010
The Visionary World of
Vladimir Yoffe
Selections from the
Permanent Collection
In 2006, the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art received an extraordinary gift from the Pasco Art Center of the life’s work of expressionist sculptor Vladimir Yoffe (1911-1997). Yoffe, a Russian émigré, spent most of his career in New York City before retiring to New Port Richey in 1977. As a young student, Yoffe studied art at schools in New York, Paris and Florence. In the 1930s, he worked for the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and then taught for many years at The Laboratory School of Industrial Design. Throughout his career, he continued as a practicing artist experimenting with new materials and techniques.
This exhibition of 12 of Yoffe’s sculptures, maquettes (sculptural studies), drawings and related materials, including a reconstruction of his studio complete with sculpting stand and tools, reveals the visionary world of this creative artist.
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Sister Eliseea Papaciò, The Annunciation, 2005. On loan from St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Tampa. |
Oct. 4, 2009 – Feb. 7, 2010
Prayers in Paint: The Icons of Sister Eliseea Papaciòc
(Focus Gallery)
Romanian Orthodox Nun Sister Eliseea Papaciòc is widely known in religious circles in the Tampa Bay area for the extraordinary detail and craftsmanship of her icon paintings. Each work demonstrates her artistry as an expression of faith revealed through a personal dialogue with God. This spiritual process manifests in thousands of intricate brushstrokes – each a prayer – as a meditation on a sacred image from orthodox tradition.
Prayers in Paint includes an exhibition of seven works on loan from the artist and St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Tampa. The icon images include the Annunciation, Nativity, Madonna and Child, Mary of the Veil, Peter and Christ Walking on Water, St. Nicholas and the Pantokrator (all-judging Christ/God).
