Key Eyes, in Space 2, focuses the lens on Key West, and takes a closer view of the scenes and surfaces of our island, photographed by Bill Luchsinger and Karen Strohbeen and presented in a variety of formats.

Luchsinger and Strohbeen are a married couple who live and make art most of the year in Iowa. They have had over 40 shows and exhibitions in a range of media — metal sculpture, painting, drawing, etching, lithography, and archival prints. Spending time in Key West for the last 23 years they have developed what they call “Key Eyes” which means the ability to look with a sense of humanity and spirit so uniquely Key West.

“The time we have spent visiting Key West has changed the way we see our own lives,” says Luchsinger. “The island is such a beautiful and decadent place, always.”

Luchsinger draws a parallel between Key West and the remote area where he and Strohbeen have a home in Iowa.

“We live on a dead end road, and it can be two weeks before a car passes our way,” continues Luchsinger. “Key West is a dead-end road, too, although obviously, a much larger one.”

The couple transforms the mundane objects and familiar images of the island into strikingly unique photos. Occasionally utilizing extreme closeups, they train the lens on mausoleums, control boxes for traffic lights, and handicap signs, to render the usual in very unusual ways. The show will include both large format and small “postcard” images, as well as several amalgams of images printed on 3 x 10 foot floorcloths.

On view in Space 2: Feb 2-14, 2012

Reception: February 2, 6-8 pm
On view February 2-14, Main Hall

Light of Florida, a new exhibition in the main hall, consists of nearly 60 photographs taken by members of the Florida chapters of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP).
Light of Florida was originally planned as a coffee-table book and recently traveled to the 2010 China Sanjiangyuan International Photographic Festival where it was awarded Best Thematic Show. The project began when ASMP members were asked to submit photos that capture and celebrate the magical quality of light in Florida. To date, nearly 1200 images have been submitted in response to the call.

Having been edited down and curated by a panel of experts in the industry, only a small percentage of the best images will be shown in Key West. The resulting collection showcases multiple interpretations of Florida’s people, places and things.

Through Mid-March

As a tribute to the Flagler Railroad, sculptor Bill Wood will install High Road, fiberglass and steel construction (160″ x 42″ x 90″), in the Armory garden in late-January.

Bill Wood on his inspiration for creating High Road…

“High Road is a result of the hours spent with one of my favorite landmarks of the Keys.

The first time I was involved in Sculpture Key West, I drove down from Virginia to Key West with a friend straight through.

As we got onto the Keys as it was beginning to get light, and it was my turn to drive. When I crossed over Bahia Honda,  I saw the remnants of the Flagler Railroad with the collapsing highway above it.

I kept thinking about that bridge – and whenever I’d go back by I’d park at the bridge and look at it for a while.

It struck me that it’s so typical of the Keys – taking something and reusing it like that.

Then, a couple of years ago I started doing road pieces – (one is showing currently in the National Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition in North Charleston.)

After a while, I got this idea for High Road. I don’t know, I guess I’ve just been on the highway too long…”

Sponsored by Saunders & Kolpin

*Guests are invited to stay for the free 6 pm lecture by Seth H. Bramson, author of Speedway to Sunshine in the Armory Main Hall

“The theme for the members’ show, “Connect/Disconnect,” was inspired by the paradox of Key West,” says Jed Dodds, executive director. “The island draws people looking to unplug from the ‘real world,’ all the while engaging life at its fullest.”

TSKW’s member artists explored the theme through a variety of different disciplines, including visual art, poetry, and film, and submitted works which explore the ways they connect to the world, the spaces in between, and the ties that keep it all together.

Featuring work by Nellie Appleby, Michele Atkinson, Karen Beauprie, Phyllis Bennett, Laura Black, Judi Bradford, Bree Buckley, Bonnie Burkee, Joyce Carpenter, Brewster Chamberlin, Joan Cox, Sue Crandon, Susann d’Antonio, Dan Hummel, Fran Decker, Diane Savicky, Mr. Elli, Cindy Essenberg, Rachel Feinberg, Christie Fifer, Kim Z. Franklin, Perry Frantzman, David Genest, Lois Giffen, Jane Gilbert, Robert Hans, Jeffrey Harwell, HB Clark, Pam Hobbs, Amanda Johnson, Marlene Koenig, Karen Luknis, Marcus Lundell, Yolanda Maloney, Margo Z. Ellis, Lauren P. McAloon, Sandy Mezinis, Deborah J. Moore, Joyce Morin, Poochie Myers, Susan O’Neill, Claire Perrault, Rosanne Potter, Camille Rhodes, Michael Robinson, Judith A. Ryan, Fred Saccone, Jackie Sanchez, Jimm Sherrington, Patricia Shoaf, Irene Stanton, Coco Strauss, Sherry Sweet Tewell, Patrick Tierney, Gale Upmal, J.M. Varela, John Watson, Dahlia Woods, and Debra Yates

“Connect/Disconnect” works will be available for sale. Artists retain 75 percent of the proceeds with the balance helping to support studios programs and exhibits.

Sponsored by Assortment, Inc.

On View Jan 19-31

Reception: Jan 19, 6-9 pm

What do you get when you cross paper dolls, origami, and a collaborative art making process?  You’ll have to attend the exhibition of January artist in residence Melita Greenleaf to find out.

Utilizing templates of her design Greenleaf will welcome community members and travellers alike to participate in making components for a sculptural installation.  The finished work will be unveiled in conjunction with Thursday January 19th Walk on White gallery events. Participants need only have the ability to trace, cut, and fold paper; each will receive a numbered piece to keep at the end of the show.

Greenleaf is a New York-based sculptor on faculty at the 92nd Street Y and represented by Galerie Aqui Siam Ben in the French Riviera.  Her work has been published in Lark Books “500 Tiles,” broadcast nationally in the PBS series “Craft in America,” featured at the Smithsonian Institution’s Annmarie Sculpture Garden, and was recently acquired for the permanent collection of the Siena College of Art, Italy.

About the Artist:

Although she earned an A.A.S. degree in natural resources conservation at FLCC, Melita transferred to SUNY New Paltz where she received a bachelor of fine arts degree in ceramics.  A resident of the circa 1902 Byrdcliffe Arts Colony in Woodstock, N.Y., Melita teaches sculpture and pottery at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, where her class was featured in the PBS series “Craft in America.”

Her work has been published by Lark Books, shown at AnnMarie Garden, a Smithsonian affiliate, and at the Fête Picasso in Vallauris, France.  Melita’s work utilizes natural materials to create works infused with metaphor and symbol.

Sponsored by Cuban Coffee Queen

To help children and  explore the artistic process and develop their creative potential, The Studios of Key West is offering two summer arts programs in July.  Registrations are now being taken for Art is Cool with TSKW Instructors, Saturdays in June, 10am-noon, and Painting Boot Camp for Kids with Rick Worth, Tuesdays in July, 10am-noon, from the 9th through the 30th.  Both sessions are sure to fill quickly.

Art is Cool offers fun Saturday classes for children who are ready to be encouraged to let their imaginations run free! When properly challenged and inspired, even the youngest child’s creativity will be sparked, and channeled into structured opportunities to create. Select one or as many sessions as your summer schedule allows — each session covers a different topic and provides a unique opportunity to create. The only rule? Dress for mess!

A popular artist and instructor, Worth will teach children aged 7-15 the fundamentals of painting.  The class is fun and perfect for beginners or those who already love art. In this disciplined, encouraging environment, children will learn the basics of color mixing by using a limited palette of latex enamel on 9 x 12 inch primed canvas.  Worth guides students from a blank canvas to a finished painting in just two hours, and offers helpful tips and hints along the way.

The cost is $25 per session, and students can sign up for individual or for all sessions.  All supplies including paint, brushes, and paper are provided.

Parents can call TSKW at 296-0458 or call or stop by the Armory, 600 White Street to enroll today.

If you have any questions, please call our program office at 305-296-0458, from 10am-4pm, Monday-Friday, or email us at officeassistant@tskw.org

Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the start of a workshop or class.

If you have enrolled your child in a class, please plan to drop him/her off 20 minutes prior to the class.

This lively and vibrant show is a chance for The Studios of Key West to honor our members.

Both new and current TSKW members are encouraged to exhibit, and works in all mediums will be accepted.

The public reception is during Walk on White on Thursday June 20, 6-9 pm

Exhibition Terms:

Non-juried and open to all TSKW members.
People’s Choice Award will be presented.
Fee: $25 per work, all medium and disciplines will be accepted. 2D works must be wired securely and ready to hang.
80% of all sales benefit the artist. TSKW will manage all sale transactions.

Member artists may submit 1-2 pieces. TSKW will exhibit something from each artist, but the show will be curated to meet the gallery’s space limitations, so it is possible that not all work by each artist will be accepted. The show is otherwise not juried and open to all TSKW members”

Drop off: Thursday and Friday, June 13 & 4
Pick up: Monday and Tuesday, July 15 & 16

from 10 am – 4 pm, Main Office, TSKW or call 296-0458 to make alternate arrangements.

Exhibit Agreement-Summer Salon

Michael Marrero is a Cuban American artist whose entire life has been dedicated to the creative. His father is a painter and photographer and his father’s father was the same. After setting upon a formal education in arts he established himself as a driven professional with a sharp eye for both the micro and the macro. His  photo and video assignments have taken him from tropical paradises to shantytowns in Central America. He has dealt with the volatile and the delicate always finding the compassion and humanity of his subjects. In 2012 he founded Art Space Gallery with Marky Pierson.

See more of Michael’s work at www.marrerostudio.com

Photo by Nick Doll

To help document the island’s strangely undocumented bike culture, studio writer and photographer Mark Hedden has captured some of Key West’s more prominent bicycling icons — as well as some of the lesser known luminaries of the culture — with their bicycles.

Velo-City, an photography exhibition on view at The Studios of Key West’s Space 2 from May 16-June 14, is an appreciation of the various and manifold ways the bicycle is ingrained in our small town culture.

“The bike is a poor man’s chariot and a rich man’s escape, arguably the best machine mankind has ever invented,” says Hedden. “I know people who never pay more than $35 for a bike, and people who have laid out over $5,000 for a frame alone”.

By casual estimation, 5,000 people in Key West ride bikes on a regular basis. Most houses in town have a bike or three locked to a porch or a gate. Most successful businesses in the historic district cater, at least on some level, to their bike riding clients.

Hedden captures some of Key West’s more prominent bicycling icons, as well as some of the lesser known luminaries of the culture in twenty full-color photographs taken around the island.

“Key Westers ride for a million different reasons — because they can’t afford a car or because they hate their car, because it’s healthier, because they care about the environment, because they want to avoid a DUI, because they hate finding parking spaces, or because, for reasons they can’t quite put into words, it’s just so damn fun,” continues Hedden. “It is one of the more interesting ways to gauge a local’s character.”

Velo-City will be on view from May 16-June 14 at The Studios of West, with a reception on Thursday, May 16, from 6-9pm.