Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs
Expressing our creativity, about film festivals, art exhibits and fun
“Art can be therapeutic. It opens people’s minds to new possibilities and their hearts to new understanding. A catalyst for friendships, art provides a foundation for shared experience.” ―Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs W
hat began as a small gathering of a few local artists has grown into two centers with one mission: Arts for All.
Dating to the 1950s, Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs is a venue for visual and performing artists to learn, to view other work and to show their own, to enjoy performances and cultural events such as the Bonita Springs International Film Festival, a huge event in January that includes workshops and dialogue with filmmakers and writers.
The Florida Watercolor Society’s exhibition runs this year from Nov. 21-Dec. 28. It features the state’s finest watercolorists. Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs also has a program to bring art to your workplace, youth and at-school sessions, camps and mentoring for at-risk kids, among many programs.
And for aspiring artists, “our teachers are sensitive to our students, whatever level, and enjoy bringing people into the world of art,” says Donna Delseni, the art education director.
Artist samplers are popular at the Cent er for Visual Arts―a five-week class that takes beginners through pencil, pastel, acrylic, oil and watercolor introductions. Over at the Center for Performing Arts, performance classes such as Intro to Acting for Adults and 10 Minute Plays are trendy. Sampler classes and one-nighters allow you to “dip your toe in the w ater,” Delseni says.
There are also shortened workshops—three hours to three days. The venue “offers a stellar roster of long-time teachers that continues to fulfill the needs for all-level artists and who are focused on developing their skills,” says Delseni, adding that classes in thermal drawing, paper sculpting and wall sculptures in wood are in the fall line-up.
Judy Belmont over three years has taken fused-glass programs at the Centers for the Arts, also coordinating activities for friends and family, including a 40th anniversary party. “I wanted to give my friends a chance to make a fused-glass creation,” says Belmont, of Naples.
Belmont has further plans for fall enrollments. “Three years ago,” she says, “I was a complete beginner. [Instructor] Sheri Rouleau gives me the advice and assistance to create my own fused-glass inspirations.
“Her upbeat disposition has made the class even more fun!” Freelance writer Ann Marie O’Phelan is a regular contributor to TOTI Media.