St Stephen’s Art Show Poster and Hope Floats Unveiling
Feb 3rd, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
St Stephen’s Episcopal Church
Nepenthe Garden
2750 McFarlane Road
Coconut Grove, Fl 33133
rsvp: dlewis@sseds.org
www.sseds.org

Please join us for light hors d’oeuvres, live music and cocktails and meet this coveted poster artist David Yuan.

There will be a silent auction and presentation of this year’s unique humanitarian art exhibit, Hope Floats, by 10 year old St Stephen’s parishioner, Ava Salazar.

Professional art community rallies around ten year old girls idea to assist the homeless of Coconut Grove

Entering its 23rd year, the highly anticipated St. Stephen’s Art Show (SSAS) will be introducing young Ava Salazar’s’ idea for a one-time unique art exhibit within the 160 artist show at the three-day festival, Saturday, February 19th through Monday, February 21st, 2011. Ava aspires, at only ten years old, to complete her first business and humanitarian project which, through Art and the public’s help, will raise money and awareness for homeless in the Grove and one particular Grove Artist, Neith Nevelson granddaughter of the famous American Artist, Louise Nevelson. Ava’ s humanitarian initiative called “Hope Floats” joins Neith, known for her vivid color schemes, slight variations of three main subject matters (horses, nude women’s bodies and male faces), with ten other renown artists. Each artist will donate an original painting on recycled sail boat sail-cloth. The pieces will be displayed within a unique exhibit area, during the nationally ranked February St. Stephens Art Show and sold by silent auction throughout the weekend. 100 percent of the raised funds will assist the homeless and Ms. Nevelson. In advance of The Show, a public unveiling of the collection will be held on February 3rd, 2011 at the St. Stephens Episcopal church, where an additional two pieces will be sold by live auction. “I was having family dinner and talking with my step-mom about cooking for the homeless at church, [St. Stephens] and I learned that some even live in old boats patched with recycled wood and sails,” said 5th grade student Ava Salazar when asked how she came up with ‘Hope Floats’. “I asked if our art show did anything to sell art for the homeless, and when I learned it didn’t, I came up with an idea to have artists paint sails and sell them to raise money” Salazar added.

Young Ava Salazar connected her love of art, her church, the St. Stephens Arts Show, and the homeless in a creative endeavor. Ava created a strong team of adults; step-mom and Show Director Daisy Lewis, her aunt Carolina Salazar who is herself an artist and assistant curator of Miami International Airport Galleries, and the St. Stephens Art Show Steering Committee. Weekly team meetings by skype® have allowed Ava to recruit the artists and secure a sponsor, Bremen Sails, and media partners NBC6, and Majic 102.7 radio. Neith Nevelson, a featured artist of the project, is a Grove icon, noted as a “VanGogh of our time” and known in her heyday to be friends with the likes of Salvador Dali. Joining Neith are incredible Florida artists Claudia Scalise, Sri Prabha, Charles E. Humes, Mark Osterman, Abraham Camayd, Bill Ritzi, and Carolina Salazar herself. Each artist will paint with oil based acrylic on custom cut 3 foot and 6 foot pieces of sail cloth specifically donated for Ava and this project. “Our annual theme for the art show is ‘Art is in the Heart,’ and this year’s additional homeless humanitarian art project really resonates with that anthem,” says Daisy Lewis, Show Director. “While artists from around the country will again show their brilliance during this amazing art festival weekend, the Hope Floats exhibit, and Ava’s astounding idea and follow-through will make a very special 2011 show for me professionally and a very proud moment for our familyy” adds Lewis.

The big event, The St. Stephens Art Show, is presented annually by St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, a 100 year resident in Coconut Grove. Known as one of South Florida’s most popular outdoor art festivals, the St. Stephen’s Art Show drives in a crowd of over thousands of art spectators from all over the country and serves as a non-profit event which funds over a dozen outreach programs in Miami. Ranked top in the country by Sunshine Artist Magazine, its proceeds allow the church to offer a range of cultural, spiritual and entertainment activities to the Coconut Grove community and its’ neighbors. This year’s festivities at the show will feature hundreds of up-and-coming artists from across the nation, including loyal performers that have been accepted into the show for many years.

The art show will be open all three days from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm and will feature long standing artists and award winners. For only a $1 entry fee, visitors can enjoy artwork from more than 160 renowned artists, an international food court, children’s activity area, an authentic English tea room and musical entertainment, all on the shady campus of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church and School. The St. Stephen’s Art Show is an event not to be missed. For additional information, visit www.artshowss.org.

Neith (McCrea) Nevelson (New York City b. 1946-) never thought she would become a professional artist, not even growing up in the household of her grandmother, Louise Nevelson (1899-1988), one of the world’s premier 20th Century sculptors. Neith, one of three siblings, is the eldest daughter of Mike Nevelson, Louise Nevelson’s only son. Her other sisters from different marriages are Elsbeth and Maria Nevelson; the latter went on to found the Louise Nevelson Foundation. Neith’s longest stint at a ‘formal’ education was at the Accademia di Belle Arti, in Florence, Italy, though she was expelled from the academy after a few months for her persistence in painting what she eventually became known for– faces, women and horses– and not what was required of the curriculum, mostly still life drawings and landscapes. Away from scholarly surroundings, Neith would go on her own way and use a wide array of stylistic forms and categories to paint– mostly Cubism, Expressionism, and Surrealism. In Miami, a now-defunct restaurant called “Soco” was designed mainly with Neith’s paintings and motifs, Soco Restaurant. An ever-growing trend among fans are so-called blogs and web-sites of which Neith’s name has become a very popular name.