GUEST EDITORIAL
Iam the curator of Arts for ACT Gallery and also an artist. I have worked for Abuse Counseling and Treatment, Inc., the domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking shelter serving Lee County, for the last 16-plus years. Arts for ACT Gallery in Fort Myers is an ongoing fundraising project of ours.
Hiring on at ACT as administrative assistant, I was pleasantly surprised to find that ACT operated an art gallery in its infancy in the Royal Palm Square. The gallery had to move in order to thrive. One of our gallery volunteers, Kitty Tyler, who is an artist but also owned April’s Eatery, suggested coming downtown next to her sandwich and pie shop. The building owned by Bill Smith had been vacant for some time. Jennifer [CEO Jennifer L. Benton] and I fell in love with the space and especially the quaint charm of downtown Fort Myers. We knew it would take awhile to remodel the space to the vision we had which was a boho eclectic art space. The Smith family graciously gave us one year free rent and we went to work on the space with a handful of volunteers and our maintenance man. It took us about five months and a whole lot of elbow grease and love to open Arts for ACT Gallery that June of 2001.
Fast forward to 2008, sleepy Fort Myers has been through several refurbishments. The Art League of Fort Myers and the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center join Arts for ACT Gallery and slowly more art galleries begin to open. Greg Knezevich, Terry Tincher, Jamie Kuser, Jim Griffith, Andy Howl, David Acevedo, Xavier Brignoni and myself, among others, came together to form the Fort Myers Art Walk. Together we created the first event that was the catalyst that made downtown a “must-see” destination. The River District Alliance was reformed and its board now oversees Fort Myers Art Walk and the many other events that keep you returning downtown. Six galleries soon became 13 galleries and the free, selfguided public art event brought thousands of people downtown. Restaurants and retail shops came and could sometimes pay their rents in the four hours of Art Walk.
But then slowly and sadly some galleries could no longer afford to be in the core area of Fort Myers. Rents were raised and the economy was plummeting. More galleries did replace them and Fort Myers Art Walk continued to thrive. Fort Myers Art Walk has 14 galleries today and has grown large enough for the city to require First Street be closed to traffic. Is it time to make Fort Myers Art Walk a two-day event ―the first Friday of each month from 6-10 p.m. and the Saturday after from 11a.m. to 4 p.m.?
Art works. It has an ethical and philosophical quality that brings artists together and engages the public. Support your local artists and galleries!