Fifty-nine years of providing quality visual arts experiences and empowering local artists in the Big Bend Regio will be celebrated at LeMoyne Arts’ annual Art & Soul Celebration. The event takes place on Thursday, October 20 at the Tallahassee Garden Club. This year’s theme, de Espaῇa, con Amor!, is a nod to our dear friend Ron Yrabedra who passed away in February.
The Tallahassee Garden Club is the scene for this year’s Celebration. Grace Atkins, Art & Soul Celebration Chair, shared, “we are delighted to bring life to our Spanish theme with authentic Paella dishes cooked onsite by Real Paella, a signature drink The Barcelona created by Liberty Bar, Spanish wines, a special performance by Pas de Vie, and the Spanish inspired grooves of the Latin Soul Orchestra.” Learn how you can join in the Celebration and support LeMoyne through sponsorships, auction item donations, event tickets and auction bidding at www.lemoyne.org/artandsoul.
Leading up to the celebration is a silent auction of art and items good for the soul beginning Thursday, September 29 in the Albrecht and Hoover Galleries at LeMoyne Arts. The public is invited to drop in to bid on silent auction items while enjoying the Beam with PRIDE gallery exhibit. The silent auction will end at 6pm on Friday, October 21.
Art & Soul Celebration raises funds to support LeMoyne’s diverse programming and art studio classes offered to our community. Arielle Raff, LeMoyne Executive Director emphasized, “This fundraiser is very important to LeMoyne’s ability to sustain its quality programming and to reach out to underserved portions of our community. Coming out of the shutdowns and challenges of Covid, LeMoyne is experiencing a renaissance thanks to the support of our community. LeMoyne wants to be sure to reach into those areas of the community that don’t regularly experience the joy and personal growth that creating art provides.”
Local artists, art patrons and businesses have come together to create a cultural event to celebrate art and the soul of our community. Costa de la Luz, a stunning painting by Monica Rios is this year’s cover art will be featured in the live auction at the event. Artwork on auction includes beautiful pieces by Ron Yrabedra, Debby and Randy Brienen, Lesley Nolan, Leslie Anderson, Kathleen Carter, Dr. Charles Dorn, Dan Taylor, Roland Hockett, Isabella Alsharif, Ruth Nickens, Michael Brennan, Anne Hempel, Quincie Hamby, Linda Van Beck, and others we all love. Themed baskets filled with fun and nurturing goodies and experiences “good for the soul” are provided by The Gem Collection, Mission San Luis, FSU’s Opening Nights, Pamala Doffek, to name a few, and will all be available for you to bid on at LeMoyne.
This year’s cover artist, Monica Rios, is a self-taught artist from Florida, who has exhibited her work for more than 25 years. She has been a Tallahassee resident for 40 years. Rios is of Puerto Rican descent. She is a member of the Gadsden Arts Artists’ Guild and the Artists’ League of the Big Bend. Her work has been exhibited from Montreal, Canada, to the US Virgin Islands. You may have seen her work in Tallahassee at LeMoyne Arts, the Artport Gallery, FSU Ballroom, Gadsden Arts Center & Museum, the FSU College of Medicine, art festivals, and Au Peché Mignon French Pastry Shop, where she was the art curator before the pandemic. Her artwork is a combination of dream-inspired and realistic imagery. Rios’ style is known for being colorful, with a flowing composition.
