New Exhibition in June May 24 2016
In the featured gallery:
The Floral World Reconsidered
- A Group Exhibition
Opening reception: Saturday, June 4, 4 -7pm
On exhibit: June 4 - 25, 2016
GUEST SPEAKER: Doug McGinnis
How Flowers Taught Bees to Be Vegetarians
Saturday, June 18, 11am
Arts on Douglas kicks off the summer season with a themed group exhibition entitled The Floral World Reconsidered guest curated by Dr. Jim Murphy. The exhibition features 19 selected artists. Each work included in this show is a contemporary interpretation of the role that flowers play in the changing global landscape. The participating artists include Bobbi Baugh, Robert Beck, Donne Bitner, Alexander Diaz, Mollie Doctrow, Lee Dunkel, René Guerin, Ed Harris, Michael Katz, Riitta Klint, BJ Lantz, Tim Ludwig, Audrey Phillips, Mary Schimpff Webb, Jo Sinclair, Wendy Tatter, Trish Thompson, Anna Tomczak and Barbara Wagner. The exhibition will be on view from June 4 thru June 25, 2016 with an opening reception on Saturday, June 4 from 4-7pm. During the opening reception, the gallery will be featuring The Treblemakers, giving center stage to Andrew Elliot on guitar and vocals and Tyler Rosenke on the drums. The Trebelmakers have been described as an island blend of reggae, mellow classic rock, funk and soul. We will also host a guest speaker, Doug McGinnis, beekeeper and ACA Trustee. He will present How Flowers Taught Bees to Be Vegetarians on Saturday, June 18 at 11am. All exhibitions, receptions and events are free and open to the public.
Guest curator Dr. Jim Murphy remarks on the exhibition, “Today, artists continue to challenge boundaries across media and styles inventing new ways of revitalizing this time-honored art form. We are more than ever conscious of humanity’s impact on the natural world and on the key role played by flowers in the interdependent cycle of existence. The exhibition reconsiders this new world view through a survey of individual responses created by artists who are represented by Arts on Douglas."
Dr. Murphy was the first program director of Atlantic Center for the Arts and served as executive director of the Society for Photographic Education. He has been an independent curator to arts organizations and is the author of reviews, articles and catalogue essays. He has held full-time faculty positions at the University of Alabama, Stetson University, and Florida State University, where he served as chairman of the Department of Art. He holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Art History from Florida State University.
In conjunction with the exhibition, beekeeper and ACA Trustee Doug McGinnis will present a talk entitled How Flowers Taught Bees to Be Vegetarians on Saturday, June 18 at 11am. “We all love flowers—their colors and shapes, and particularly when they have a fragrance. Yet 200 million years ago, flowers refined their allure not for humans, but to attract pollinators to help them reproduce. These “strategies” have paid off for all life on Earth,” states Doug McGinnis.
McGinnis' previous family business, Tropical Blossom Honey Co., had been collecting honey from beekeepers in Florida since the 1940's. McGinnis established an apiary on ACA grounds and regularly brings visiting artists out to the hives to observe the bees feasting on the wide variety of native flowers. McGinnis has also served on the National Honey Board and the National Honey Packers and Dealers.