Clearwater Couple Donates Sculpture to Museum

Friends and family members miss seeing the shiny, curling ribbons of metal that form the sculpture “Introspection” when they visit the home of Moshe and Ella Kedan these days.

But the good news is that this beautiful work by artist Gino Miles will be seen by tens of thousands in the coming years.

The Kedans recently donated “Introspection” to the museum, and Miles installed it outside the museum entrance in February. Now the sculpture is on display for all to see, perched atop four rocks totaling 2,000 pounds pulled from the Pecos River in New Mexico.

The Kedans determined the Polk Museum of Art was an ideal spot for exhibiting Miles’ work after visiting here last Spring.

“We were impressed with this particular museum because it is really geared toward contemporary art,” Moshe Kedan said.

The Kedans met Miles several years ago at Art Basel Miami and instantly felt an attraction toward his work for his ability to mastered “such a tough, hard, heavy metal and make it like a rubber toy,” Kedan said.

They have purchased five pieces, and opted to donate “Introspection” so that others could see and be inspired by Miles’ work.

Claire Orologas, executive director of the Polk Museum of Art, says she is grateful for the generous gift, and she views the donation as a sign that the museum’s regional outreach efforts are working.

“We serve the entire region, not just Lakeland or Polk County,” Orologas said. “The fact that this gift was made by collectors who live in Clearwater shows that people outside Polk County are noticing and appreciating our facility and our programming.”

About Gino Miles

A native of the Western slopes of Colorado, Gino Miles received a Master of Art in sculpture from the University of Northern Colorado in 1979.

He lived in Florence, Italy for several years and helped found Italart, a school for American and German students in the Chianti region. He also taught design and sculpture classes while making and exhibiting his own pastels and sculpture.

Today Miles and his wife live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has owned and operated his own gallery, Sculpture 619, since 2003. You can learn more about Miles here.

“Visible Rhythms” Exhibition Opens at Lake Wales Arts Center

The Polk Museum of Art installed its second annual exhibition at Polk State College's Lake Wales Arts Center on Monday.

It is on view in support of the college’s annual Jewel of the Ridge Jazz Festival April 6-10 along the shores of Lake Wales, and remains through May 16.

The exhibition titled “Visible Rhythms” includes 22 works by 20 artists that are part of the museum’s permanent collection. They were chosen for their ability to visually correlate with the sounds from the jazz festival.

Although these works of art can be appreciated when viewed alone, their visual vivacity is enhanced when coupled with the rhythmic power of modern jazz, Curator Adam Justice says.

“Essentially, it's equating color with rhythm,” Justice says. “All of these pieces are abstract works that are characterized by their vibrant colors.”

This exhibition is one of many ways the Polk Museum of Art brings art to residents who live throughout Polk County and the Central Florida region, says Executive Director Claire Orologas.

In addition to this exhibition done in partnership with Polk State College, the museum is a partner in the Winter Haven arts incubator, The Outer Space Gallery, which opened in 2015. 

The Polk Museum of Art also has sculptures in Polk, Highlands and Lee counties as part of the Florida Outdoor Sculpture Competition.  

The Lake Wales Arts Center is located at 1099 FL-60. The center is open Monday- Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed weekends.

The Story Behind “Visible Rhythms”

In 1911, Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) penned his now famous treatise “Concerning the Spiritual in Art.” Through this momentous work, Kandinsky was the first artist to lay out the connections between music and painting, Justice says. He equated certain tones of sound with specific shades of color. For example, the lowest frequency tones, or bass sounds, were the auditory equivalent to deep blue hues.

People don’t connect sound and color exclusively with the ears and eyes, but with our souls, according to Kandinsky. He believed, as so many artists and theorists before him, that sensitivities to music and visual art are innate in every human, and we connect the two in our own respective and unique ways. By outlining the relationships between painting and music, Kandinsky helped us understand the basis for our spiritual interpretations of the two art forms.

Perhaps the best modern example of Kandinsky’s theory is the relationship between modern jazz and 20th-century abstract art. Just as a visual artist composes a canvas according to the interaction of color and shape, a jazz musician composes a piece of music according to the interaction of tone and rhythm. What ultimately connects these two sorts of compositions is the similar energy innate in each.

“Visible Rhythms” seeks to emphasize that energy.

Polk Museum of Art is Awarded its First Disney Grant

Walt Disney World Resort awarded a $12,000 grant to the Polk Museum of Art on March 4.

The money will be used for two youth-oriented programs in the Parker Street neighborhood.

The Parker Street Teen Program has about 12 participants who have created a business to design and sell clothing. This program incorporates the arts, entrepreneurship and life skills training, says Laura Putnam, outreach manager for the Polk Museum of Art.

Putnam works with teens to design, plan, develop and market a silk-screened clothing line. Profits from the T-shirt sales are split, with one half going to a local charity of the teens' choosing and the other being spent as a class. This unique aspect flips participants from being recipients of charity to being community benefactors, she says.

“The teens are doing everything from the ground up, which includes creating a business plan,” Putnam says. “Giving back to a local charity promotes civic engagement, and the role reversal from recipients of charity to community benefactors is a key component to the project.”

The Disney grant will help cover supplies, production and administrative costs for the program’s third year, which begins in October. Putnam also will use the funds to purchase iPads so participants will have access to design apps that will be useful in designing more clothing.

The remainder of the grant funds will be used in the Parker Street After School Program, which provides an outlet for about 80 children to express themselves creatively and safely.

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