SAIL High School Receives College Board’s First National Award for Innovation in the Arts

SAIL High School is one of six schools in the United States to be chosen as the inaugural recipient of the College Board Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts. Granted to one school in each of the College Board regions, this award was established to recognize and celebrate the achievements of K-12 institutions that have implemented an arts program that promotes student learning and creativity in exemplary and innovative ways. SAIL was chosen from applicants across the College Board’s Southern region, which consists of 10 states (LA, MS, AL, GA, FL, SC, NC, TN, KY, VA).

“The selection committee was very impressed with the diverse array of student artwork that was reflected in SAIL’s work sample and the high level of engagement and achievement that was reflected throughout. Your commitment to admitting students to SAIL regardless of their prior art experience and academic achievement, shows a commitment to access and equity that we greatly admire, and makes the high level of artistic and academic achievement even more inspiring. We are delighted to present SAIL High School with a $3,000 award to support its exemplary arts programming.”

-- Nancy Rubino, Director of Office of Academic Initiatives at the College Board

On Janurary 27 at 10:35, Superintendent Jackie Pons will be coming to SAIL to congratulate the students and staff on this prestigious award. SAIL performing arts students will present a 5 minute showcase of the dance, art, drama and music that we are being recognized for.

Tiffany Thomas, Assistant Principal, will accept the award on behalf of SAIL at the College Board’s Regional Forum in Atlanta on February 10- 11, 2011.

East Point’s Treasures by Shehla Milliron

Iamonia by Pam Talley

Spring Morning Horizon Lines-Detail by Mary Urquhart

The Council on Culture & Arts is pleased to present

Horizon Lines: Oil Paintings by Shehla Milliron, Pam Talley and Mary Urquhart

an exhibition at the City Hall Gallery from January 12 – March 7, 2011
as part of the Arts in Public Places program

Capturing images on canvas is Shehla Milliron’s way of going back in time and revisiting the places she has encountered. As an an oil painter focused primarily on landscapes and animals, Milliron spends the year living between Tallahassee and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Her work depicts subjects from these two diverse regions. She paints on location whenever possible and also uses photography as an aid in the creation of her works, especially the wildlife.

Pam Talley is always evolving as an artist and she strives to show the beauty that great light can bring to everyday subjects. She works in oils and uses impressonistic brush and knife work to make her subjects come to life. Pam pursued painting throughout early school years and is a trained graphic artist. Pam teaches art classes at Brush and Palette Studio and is continually developing new ideas for paintings.

Born and raised in the Midwest, Mary Urquhart now sees wild beauty in the landscapes of the Southeast. Her paintings allow her the opportunity to discover, take chances and be taken by surprise. Whether it is a marsh, lake, river or the Gulf of Mexico, she finds allure in watery reflections. Urquhart's romantic realism invites you to drift into the glass-like reflections of water.

The City Hall Gallery is located at 300 South Adams Street, second floor lobby of Tallahassee’s City Hall. This gallery is free to the public and open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Parking is available in Kleman Plaza.

The exhibition is curated by the Council on Culture & Arts’ Arts in Public Places program on behalf of the City of Tallahassee. For more information about this program, visit our web site.

For more information about this exciting exhibition or upcoming exhibitions contact Amanda Karioth Thompson at (850) 224-2500 or amanda@cocanet.org.

For a schedule of other exhibitions and arts and culture programs throughout north Florida, visit www.morethanyouthought.com. Learn more about COCA and sign up to receive COCA’s weekly email blast at www.cocanet.org.

The Council on Culture & Arts is pleased to present

Natural Awakenings: Paintings by Liu Nan

an exhibition at the Artport Gallery from

January 11 – March 21, 2011

as part of the Arts in Public Places program.

Born, raised and artistically trained in China, Liu Nan is now a Tallahassee resident. His landscapes include familiar scenes from the Big Bend Area and demonstrate the spirit of traditional Chinese art. Nature has consistently served as the main theme in his works and his goal is to promote natural and simple artistic expression. In this landscape series of oil and watercolor paintings, Nan seeks to express the joyous sensations he gets from the natural world, especially in undisturbed and undestroyed locales.

“The ‘Sunshine State’ has offered me an entirely new perspective on the value of the untouched and pristine. Growing up in a large metropolitan city in north China, crowded with millions of people and an increasingly obliterated natural environment due to modern urbanization, I rarely glimpsed the world that opened up to me in Florida.”

Nan expresses this new awakening to the varied beauty of our area in a series of paintings of natural environments; woods, water, and grass fields. His artwork is on display at the Artport Gallery.

This exhibition is free and open to the public. Gallery Hours: 8:00am – 11:30pm daily. The Artport Gallery is located inside the Tallahassee Regional Airport, 3300 Capital Circle SW.

The exhibition is curated by the Council on Culture & Arts’ Art in Public Places program on behalf of the City of Tallahassee. For more information about this program, visit www.cocanet.org.

For more information about this exhibition or upcoming exhibitions contact Amanda Karioth Thompson at (850) 224-2500 or Amanda@cocanet.org.

For a schedule of other exhibitions and arts and culture programs throughout north Florida, visit www.morethanyouthought.com. Learn more about COCA and sign up to receive COCA’s weekly email blast at www.cocanet.org.

Winter Festival Youth Art Exhibit Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony

Congratulations to all the student artists and art teachers who are part of the annual Winter Festival Youth Art Exhibit at the City Hall Gallery. The opening reception for the show was held on Dec. 3rd and middle and high school award winners were recognized at that reception.

Middle School
1st Place
Victor Castano, Florida State University School
Pam Wallheiser, Art Teacher

2nd Place
Savanna McDonald, Deerlake Middle School
Linda Johnson, Art Teacher

3rd Place
Holly Davidson, Raa Middle School
Teresa Coates, Art Teacher

Honorable Mention
Ben Dowling, Florida State University School
Pam Wallheiser, Art Teacher

Christian Liljestrand, Montford Middle School
Donald Sheppard, Art Teacher

Brianna Mead, Montford Middle School
Donald Sheppard, Art Teacher

High School
1st Place
David Hendon, Maclay High School
Cathy Hathaway, Art Teacher

2nd Place
Katie McTigue, SAIL High School
Becki Rutta, Art Teacher

3rd Place
Kate Bassett, Florida State University School
Barb Davis, Art Teacher

Honorable Mention
Lilly Atwell, Lincoln High School
Shannon Takács, Art Teacher

Sarah Patrick, Leon High School
Travis Giddings, Art Teacher

Kayleigh Rabitaille, Chiles High School
Julie Childers, Art Teacher

Mayor's Award

William Jackson, Rickards High School
Virginia Milne, Art Teacher

The 2010 Winter Festival Youth Art Exhibit will be on view until Jan. 10, 2011 at the City Hall Art Gallery. It is free to the public and open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Parking is available in Kleman Plaza.

Winter Festival Youth Art Exhibit 2010 on display now until Jan. 11, 2011

Bird Eating Berries by Sanija Waller
Kindergarten; WT Moore Elementary School
Art Teacher, Jason McMillian

The Winter Festival Youth Art Exhibit 2010 showcases youthful talent and imagination through 85 pieces of student artwork. Forty-three elementary, middle, and high school art teachers submitted work on behalf of their students for the competition. And, the entries represent 33 different area public and private schools. The dedication and professionalism of our area art teachers is evident in the quality of the student artwork on display in the City Hall gallery. And the exhibition is stunning.

A public reception for the exhibition begins at 6:00pm on Friday, December 3rd, and lasts until 7:30. The awards ceremony will start at 6:30pm in the City Hall Gallery. Mayor John Marks has chosen one piece of artwork to receive the best in show, "Mayor's Award." It promises to be an evening of great pride for the students and awe-inspired admiration for those who see the show.

For nearly 20 years, the Council on Culture & Arts (COCA) has partnered with the City of Tallahassee’s Parks and Recreation Department to present the Winter Festival Youth Art Exhibit. It is one of a dozen exhibitions curated by COCA and is part of the City of Tallahassee’s Art in Public Places program. For more information about this exhibition, upcoming exhibitions, or the Art in Public Places program, contact Amanda Karioth Thompson (Amanda@cocanet.org) at COCA, (850) 224-2500.

Photofest 2010 Winners Announced

The Photofest 2010 opening reception and awards ceremony was held on Thursday, Nov. 18th. Although it is an honor to be selected for this exhibition, COCA announced some additional kudos to a few of the artists exhibited in this show.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

Volcano Arenal, Costa Rica by Inger Avant

Lily Magic by Diana Orrick

Bay Scallop by David Moynahan

3rd Place: Life is Fragile by Amy Higgins

2nd Place: The Thick Air Is Murderous. I Would Breathe Water by Bill Humphries

1st Place: Silence by Robert Hudson

Congratulations to these six artists and to all of the artists selected to exhibit in Photofest 2010.

Photofest 2010 Exhibit

The Council on Culture & Arts is pleased to present Photofest 2010, an annual exhibition at the Artport Gallery from November 14th, 2010 - January 7th, 2011 as part of the Arts in Public Places program.

From breathtaking landscapes to the mind-bending use of extreme close ups, the Photofest 2010 exhibition features photographs by twenty two local artists. The artists were selected by this year’s Arts Advisory Panel. COCA recruits a citizen committee of accomplished fine artists and non-artists to review images and select work for exhibition.

Photofest 2010 opens November 14th, with a free public reception and awards ceremony on Thursday, November 18th from 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm. Awards will be announced at 6:30 pm. Guests are asked to park in long-term parking and present parking tickets at the gallery for complimentary validation.

The exhibit continues through January 7th, 2011 and is an annual event presented by the Council on Culture & Arts as part of the Art in Public Places program sponsored by the City of Tallahassee. The gallery itself is located in the Tallahassee Regional Airport, 3300 Capital Circle SW, and is open daily from 8:00 am until 11:30 pm.