Florida’s vibrant art scene is as warm and inviting as the spring breezes this 2017. These top 10 amazing and unique exhibits, festivals and galleries showing throughout Florida this spring have something for everyone from photography, sculptures, interactive art and of course, fine art paintings. The venues are as unique as the art itself featuring stone sidewalk festivals to intimate smaller galleries.

Source: Artist Rebecca Loveless, 2017 Delray Affair poster art

1. 1. GLASSTRESS

Through July 2, 2017

BOCA RATON MUSEUM OF ART

Boca Raton

Glasstress features 25-30 glass installations created by contemporary artists from around the world. Works included in the Glasstress Boca Raton exhibition incorporate performance, video, interactive media, design, and even video games.

2. 2. MARKING THE INFINITE

Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia

Through May 14, 2017

The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, Miami

Nine Australian artists are revered matriarchs, commanding leadership roles and using art to empower their respective communities. Their works offer a glimpse into the diverse contemporary art practice of Aboriginal Australia, with subject matter ranging from remote celestial bodies and the native bush plum’s tiny flowers to venerable crafts traditions and women’s ceremonies.

3. 3. DANDY LION (RE)ARTICULATING BLACK MASCULINE IDENTITY

Through MAY 21, 2017

Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami

The first comprehensive exhibition of its kind, this project highlights young men in city-landscapes who defy stereotypical and monolithic understandings of Black masculinity by remixing Victorian-era fashion with traditional African sartorial sensibilities.

4. 4. GALLERY NIGHT

Recurring weekly on Fridays 6 – 10 PM

Village Design

Fort Lauderdale

Every Friday, Village Design will open their doors to unexpected cool experiences, such as art films, workshops, lectures, game night, or art exploration. Gallery night is a creative initiative with a purpose of developing a space that promotes art and culture in the Fort Lauderdale Beach area.

5. 5. TAMARAC ARTS & CRAFTS FESTIVAL

April 1-2, 2017

Tamarac Chamber of Commerce

Over 90 Arts and Crafts booths showcase their fine art, jewelry, photography, woodworking, handcrafts and so much more.

6. 6. DOWNTOWN MELBOURNE… FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS ON NEW HAVEN AVENUE

March 25-26, 2017

Melbourne Festival of the Arts

836 East New Haven Avenue in Melbourne, FL

This fine art festival has all the key elements that make an event memorable- over 140 artists to the heart of downtown Melbourne, Florida with 30 trendy restaurants, exciting bars and unique retailers nearby.

7. 7. DELRAY AFFAIR

April 7 – April 9, 2017

Downtown Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach, FL

The Delray Affair is the largest arts & craft festival in the Southeast United States and 2017 is its 55th year. Stroll the bricked sidewalk of south Florida’s oldest outdoor festival while live music fills the air, regional food favorites and more than 800 vendors featuring hand-crafted arts and crafts.

8. 8. CORAL GABLES GALLERY NIGHT

April 7 @ 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

169 Madeira Avenue Miami, FL

On the first Friday each month, Virginia Miller and the Coral Gables Gallery Association organize Coral Gables Gallery Night with participation by many of the best local galleries, featuring free City trolley travel between Galleries.

9. 9. ARTSPACE/VIRGINIA MILLER GALLERIES

No set exhibit listed currently

For more than 42 years, Virginia Miller has introduced artists with unique personal visions and techniques to the South Florida art community. These have included numerous mid-career Latin American artists and international artists as well as a number of historically significant modern Latin American masters. A must-see fine art gallery in South Florida.

10. 10. “HUMAN NATURE” IRVIN RODRIGUEZ SOLO EXHIBITION

April 1—June 1, 2017

Sirona Fine Art, Hallandale Beach, FL

Artist Irvin Rodriguez is holding his first solo exhibition “Human Nature.” Rodriguez’s paintings are primarily figurative works that are grounded in reality.
Wishing you a fabulous Florida art excursion this spring or summer!

When John McCoy received his 12’x5′ canvas stretcher kit from Upper Canada Stretchers, he decided to film the process of putting it together and turn it into a time-lapsed video. John kept the camera rolling as he unpackaged his stretcher bars and supplies, assembled the stretcher, stretched his canvas and primed it in preparation for painting.

It was all a part of a project for All Saints Academy in Grand Rapids, Michigan. John is a Catholic artist and this particular piece incorporated the namesakes of the four local parishes involved in the founding of All Saints Academy: Blessed Sacrament, St. Alphonsus, St. Isidore, and St. Jude. The large canvas mural will commemorate the school’s history and will surely inspire students for generations to come.

Ready? Watch John expertly assemble his canvas stretcher in preparation for painting another of his excellent murals.

You can follow John on Facebook here to keep up with all his latest projects.

You’ve probably heard us say it before, but good art deserves good bones! When your art spans an entire wall, those bones need a few special features to ensure they’ll remain strong, straight and sturdy over time.

A professional installer stretches a large canvas over stretcher bars.

In this time-lapse video of a large canvas being installed on a 7’ x 20’ stretcher frame, you can see a few of those special features. The frame is constructed of laminated stretcher bars, which are critical in frames over 8’ in width or height. Long pieces of solid wood tend to bend and warp over time; joining lengths of laminate together produces long bars that will stay straight over the life of your canvas.

You’ll also see that the installer places keys in the frame and gently taps them into place, applying even tension across the canvas. These will be adjusted as needed, to keep the canvas tight and your painting looking its best. Custom hardwood keys can be made to fit any type and size of stretcher.

In this video, the painting is hung with gravity bars to support the additional weight of a canvas this size. You can get gravity bars and stretcher frames not only for large canvases, but for irregularly shaped ones, as well (learn more about that here).

It took about 3 hours for the installer to complete this project, but you can see how it works in under 2 minutes. Check it out:

Pro tip: Have someone on hand to help you stand the canvas up and check the tension before hanging on your gravity bars. You’ll want to adjust your keys before securing to the wall, if needed.

Want to learn more about stretching canvas?

• Read about the 7 Key Stretcher Bar Design Features for Large Canvas Frames
• Learn How to Stretch a Canvas, Step-by-Step with Video
• Browse a huge selection of stretcher bars, canvas, and gallery wrapped stretch canvas

LOOKING TO ORDER ONLINE? WE HAVE CUSTOM SHAPED CANVASES!
SHOP OUR ONLINE STORE FOR ART SUPPLIES

It’s critically important that your canvas frame has perfectly square corners adjoining straight, true stretcher bars… most of the time.

But what if your project is a little outside of that box? An artist’s vision isn’t always contained within the confines of four straight lines. In fact, some aren’t just painting outside the lines–they’re moving the lines entirely with round, oval, arched and even 3D canvas frames.

In this post, we’ll learn more about what goes into making an irregularly shaped frame, and explore stunning examples of unusually shaped canvases to perhaps inspire a project of your own!

WHAT DIFFERENT SHAPES DO CANVAS STRETCHERS COME IN?

Custom frames can come in any size and shape you desire, from geometric shapes like triangles and ovals to irregular designs you’ve dreamed up. Over the years we’ve created round and shaped stretchers over 19 feet in diameter!

A custom 19-foot round canvas frame goes through quality checks in the Upper Canada Stretchers workshop.

Of course, the larger the frame, the greater the demands for support. Rounded frames this large are achieved by first precision-cutting plywood strips using our CNC machine, then laminating them together for maximum strength. Cross-bracing adds support, and gravity bars are recommended for hanging.

Learn More About Irregularly Shaped Stretchers

CNC machining also enables us to create arched and other irregularly shaped canvas frames, like these ones for artist, Landon Metz.

These arched and irregular stretcher frames were designed and machined in Owen Sound, then shipped to Denmark for assembly and mounting.

Custom design and machining means that shipping and assembly can also be taken into account; in this case, we used flush joint connector bolts to assemble the frame. That made for simple disassembly and reassembly–an important feature considering the frames were being transported from North America to Denmark!

ARE IRREGULARLY-SHAPED CANVAS FRAMES WEAKER THAN SQUARE OR RECTANGULAR FRAMES?

Not anymore. You can imagine the challenges of creating a rounded frame in decades past when woodworking techniques like steaming or cutting and glueing to bend wood resulted in beautifully arched pieces. The problem is, those techniques were typically used to bend wood that would then be supported by other structure; the pieces were used as decorative trim, or countertop edging.

Elora artist Joel Masewich’s ‘Road Less Travelled,’ canvas over UCS-made CNC panels with stainless steel and acrylic, 54 x 192 inches. Photo: JoelMasewich.com.

Your canvas frame has to be able to stand on its own, so to speak - to support the weight of your canvas and keep it tight, to prevent damage to your piece. Today, the combination of modern machining and proven design principles enable us to create beautiful atypically shaped frames with all of the strength and durability of their square counterparts.

In fact, our rounded and arched frames can be made keyable, so you can adjust the tension of your canvas over time, just as you would with any other frame. (Not sure whether you need a keyable canvas? See this post on what keyable means and why it matters.)

Above is a keyable shaped stretcher frame design and below, a fixed strainer frame which is not keyable.

Look for a design that has a raised edge to keep your canvas from rubbing against the wood on your rounded frame.

One other important design feature you want to see is a raised edge, a front "fall" or slope, on your irregularly-shaped frame. This reduces the canvas's contact with the frame except at the very edge, preventing "ghosting" marks if the canvas were to touch the inside edge of the frame as you are pushing on the canvas while painting. Having too much contact with the wood underneath can also wear at the canvas over time.

EXPERT TIPS FOR STRETCHING CANVAS ON IRREGULARLY-SHAPED FRAMES

Superior design and careful machining ensure that even your irregularly-shaped canvases will remain a strong, durable support for your best works throughout their lifetime.

• When stretching canvas onto a round or other shaped frame, always start with unprimed cotton or linen canvas over the frame first, then prime it. Unprimed canvas is more flexible, helping prevent unsightly folds or pleating in the canvas when you’re stretching over a round, oval, or arched frame. The thicker your frame, the more difficult it is to prevent canvas folds (and the more important it becomes to work with unprimed canvas).
• Choose carefully between cotton and linen canvas for your irregularly-shaped project. How comfortable are you stretching your own canvas? How large is the piece? What’s your budget? Learn more about the differences between cotton and linen for different types of projects in this post.
• Where will your piece hang? How far is it being shipped? Will you need to move the piece often, and do you need a keyable stretcher frame? It’s helpful for the team designing your irregularly-shaped frame to understand how factors like the type of canvas and paint you plan to use, humidity levels and temperatures in the area the piece will be displayed in, (and more) might affect the materials and techniques required to make the best frame for your unique needs. Talk with a custom frames expert to see exactly what you need to bring your vision to life.

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

• See more photos of irregularly shaped frames here.
• Explore the advanced stretcher bar design features that support your largest works.
• Get a free, no obligation quote for your irregularly shaped custom frame.

Learn More About Irregularly Shaped Stretchers

Would you believe that some of the finest artworks and photography on canvas in North America are protected by supports crafted right here in the City of Owen Sound? For over 17 years, the professional woodworkers at Upper Canada Stretchers have engineered and manufactured professional-grade stretcher bars and custom art canvas supports. Today, their products are recognized as the best quality supports available to fine artists, art conservators, galleries and fine art institutions across Canada and the United States.

When the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., sought to display five massive paintings by American Color Field artist Gene Davis (1920-1985), they retained Upper Canada Stretchers to design and produce the requisite canvas stretchers.

Cory Trépanier of Caledon, Ontario, turned to the UCS shop to produce a 5.5 x 15 foot canvas stretcher for his oil on canvas, ‘The Great Glacier.’ It had already destroyed a weaker frame and needed to be readied for exhibition around the U.S.

Just recently, Artsy recognized Seattle-based Miriane Ibrahim Gallery’s booth at The Armory Show, a leading New York City art fair, as one of the top exhibitions in show.

The booth’s walls consisted of six black, screen-like panels with cutouts in the shape of Liberian fishing nets, to complement the African and Middle Eastern symbolism-influenced gilded works of artist Lina Iris Viktor. The exceptional panels were designed and crafted right here at Upper Canada Stretchers, in Owen Sound.

From its eastside shop and warehouse, Upper Canada Stretchers ships daily across North America. Its e-commerce store enables the manufacturer to sell canvas stretcher bars, gallery wrapped canvas, fine cotton and Belgian linen canvas and more direct to consumer. Upper Canada Stretchers is often called upon for custom consultations online and on-site, as well, and has engineered fine art supports over 30-feet wide.

Founded by Bob Nadon in 2001, Upper Canada Stretchers now employs nine people in its 7000 sq ft facility. Visit their website at http://ucsart.com to learn more about this homegrown business with international reach.

Early in 2018, Nadon and co-founder Grant Nicholson launched Upper Canada CNC Studio, a signage and CNC design studio, in the same space.

Originally published in the April edition of Grey Bruce MOSAIC magazine.

OWEN SOUND, ON – Artists and community members are hard at work preparing for Owen Sound’s inaugural ArtWalk!, an event taking place Saturday June 23rd from 10am to 4pm across the downtown. In preparation for the event, Owen Sound artist Billy Goodkat will lead downtown community members from groups including the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Leisure Links program and Community Living Owen Sound & District in a series of mural paintings, each depicting a historic Owen Sound landmark.

This celebration of Owen Sound’s rich and diverse arts community will see the community-created artworks displayed in 8 downtown galleries and venues on June 23rd:

• 2nd Avenue Gallery
• Owen Sound Multicultural Arts Festival at Georgian Shores United Church
• Owen Sound Artists’ Co-op
• Grey Gallery
• Santa Fe Gallery
• Intersections WOOD gallery & studio
• Tom Thomson Art Gallery
• Gallery de Boer

Owen Sound ArtWalk! was inspired by the desire of a local art supports manufacturer to do something special for the Owen Sound arts community. Bob Nadon founded Upper Canada Stretchers in 2002, and co-founded Upper Canada CNC Studio alongside renowned local designer Grant Nicholson in 2017. His homegrown businesses supply professional quality canvas stretchers and unusually shaped art supports to top artists, galleries, conservators and universities across North America.

“It’s really remarkable to be a part of this particular community, where we have such a wealth of artistic talent and venues,” Bob Nadon of Upper Canada Stretchers said. “We talked with Miranda Miller about possibly helping to organize a local initiative where we could donate some large mural canvases. She connected us with local artist Billy Goodkat, Maryann Thomas from Grey Bruce MOSAIC magazine and Amber Harwood at Georgian Bay Art Conservation, and the idea for this ArtWalk! became a collaboration that really took off from there.”

Goodkat and Miller will participate in a series of painting workshops with community groups in which participants will learn different painting techniques and create their own artwork on Upper Canada Stretchers canvas, within the guidelines of a stenciled historic building.

“It’s a great technique that allows participants to get as creative as they want to be, while giving us an outcome that has some structure and historic significance,” said Billy Goodkat, the artist leading the murals portion of the project. “Grant Nicholson at Upper Canada CNC Studios is creating signage for each gallery and also plaques for each mural, so these community groups will have credit for the art they’re creating and see it displayed in real galleries. Each individual can choose whether to sign their name to it or not. I think it’s a fantastic way to get more of our community involved in the arts and really give them something to feel proud of here in our downtown.”

The canvases built and donated by Upper Canada Stretchers range in size from 40” x 46” to 28” x 60”. Each stretcher is made of quality kiln-dried pine and crafted with UCS’s signature dovetail cornered, keyable design. The 100% pure, professional grade cotton duck canvas has been double-primed with acrylic gesso in preparation for the painters. Georgian Bay Art Conservation sponsored the painting supplies portion of the project, while MOSAIC Magazine assisted in organization and promotion.

“It’s really fantastic that we’re able to give artists and hobbyists in the community access to materials of this quality,” said Bob Nadon. “You can expect murals on stretchers and canvas of this calibre to last just as long as the historic buildings they’re painting. They’re built to last and aren’t going to warp or get bent out of shape with age, so I expect we’ll give our community member painters something to be proud of for quite a long time.”

One mural canvas has been reserved for the general public to paint at the Multicultural Arts Festival on June 23rd.

Organizer Maryann Thomas of the Ginger Press and Grey Bruce MOSAIC magazine hopes the murals will find permanent homes in relevant Owen Sound locations. “We think it would be great to have some of these murals hung permanently in the buildings they depict, and are reaching out to owners and managers now to see if this is possible,” she said.

“Do what you love and you’ll never work another day in your life.”

I love that my work gives me the opportunity to paint for folks. Helping people “get their creative on” with my Art Nights has proven even more rewarding, so when I was asked to get involved in the inaugural Owen Sound ArtWalk!, I knew this was something I wanted to carve time out to do.

I think the easiest way to explain the concept is by the numbers:

• 8 mural canvases 5-feet across, manufactured right here in Owen Sound; seven of which will depict an historic Owen Sound scene or building: the harbour, Harrison Park Inn, City Hall, the old Post Office, CP Rail Station (now Mudtown Station), the Library, and the Farmers’ Market.
• 7 local galleries displaying community-created art and offering arts programming June 23: Owen Sound Artists’ Co-op, Santa Fe Gallery, Grey Gallery, Santa Fe Gallery, Intersections WOOD Studio & Gallery, Gallery de Boer and the Tom Thomson Gallery.
• 4 awesome sponsors: Upper Canada Stretchers and sister company Upper Canada CNC Studio, Grey Bruce MOSAIC magazine, Georgian Bay Arts Conservation
• 3 community mural sessions with painters from Canadian Mental Health Association, Community Living Owen Sound & District and Reach Centre Grey Bruce.
• 1 live community mural painting on the last of our 8 canvases, at Georgian Shores United Church during the Multicultural Arts Festival on Saturday June 23.

Maryann Thomas at the Ginger Press has done a bang-up job of organizing the exhibition of the murals in each of the above-mentioned galleries. Miranda Miller put together these community group painting sessions, and we’ve had a great time getting inspiring our painters to give it a whirl on a large canvas.

There’s really nothing so freeing as being given a palette and brush and told to go nuts, is there? At each session, I shared a few painting techniques with our artists but for the most part, they had free rein to paint to their heart’s content.

And as for me, well… I was a kid in a candy store at the Upper Canada Stretchers & CNC Studiomanufacturing facility. Owner Bob Nadon invited me up to see where the magic happens, and it blew me away that we have companies like this largely operating under the radar right here in Owen Sound.

These guys are doing canvases and art supports as big as 30 feet across, in every shape you could imagine, and shipping them all over Canada and the US. It was a bit of a kid-in-a-candy-store experience for me… imagine having a 30’ canvas to mess with! Aside from a small sign at the end of their laneway across from Tenneco, you’d never know they were there.

And that’s the real beauty of the Owen Sound arts community, isn’t it? We’re chock-full of hidden gems and undiscovered talent around here–the diversity and quality of our Artists’ Co-op is a testament to that.

It was great to see our community group artists open up over the course of each painting session and really get into it. In each group, we had a few people who initially hung back.

“I’m not really any good at painting.”

“I can’t draw, I’ll just watch.”

“I’ll just ruin it.”

We intentionally chose impressionism and abstract painting techniques as the basis for each mural session. As I told our painters, “You can’t break it.” And sure enough, as we worked away adding layers and new colours and trying out different brushes, more people joined in.

Inhibitions fell away.

Fears and worries were pushed off to the side.

Brush strokes became bigger, bolder. Conversation lighter. Smiles freer.

Of course, you can’t have a proper art party without allowing for a wee bit of shenanigans. At Community Living, a few of our artists got into painting the scenes from their t-shirts on smaller canvases we’d brought for practicing the painting techniques.

I present to you: John Cena!

So you can add to our ‘ArtWalk! by the numbers’ figures above:

• 20+ community members inspired to paint
• 6+ hours of collaborative painting
• 1 wrestling legend brought to life by what might be his biggest fan

In the coming week, I’ll be layering stencils over each of our murals and creating the historic Owen Sound scenes mentioned above. I hope you’ll join us Saturday June 23rd to see what ArtWalk! is all about. Come by the downtown venues hosting our community-created murals and check out the programming each gallery is offering.

Swing by the Multicultural Arts Festival and try your own hand at mural painting… you can’t break it! And you’ll be amazed at what a group of people given permission to just give it a go can create.

Here are the most important numbers of all: June 23, 10am-4pm

See you at ArtWalk!