New Exhibits at Center for the Arts

The La Petite Galerie is featuring Carolyn Burger’s realistic contemporary abstracts from January 11th to February 2nd. 

Sky and Water is a favorite inspirational scene for Carolyn Burger’s using Florida’s puffy clouds and capturing the colors that reflect up from the landscape. If you look at Carolyn’s paintings, you will see lots of blues—blue sky, blue water and even with her glamorous women paintings, there are different shades of blues. Her paintings remind the viewers of realistic settings or objects. 

Several years ago, a lot of artists were painting women, according to Carolyn. She wanted a modern painting and enjoyed the challenge of making the skin a different color than the normal skin tone. She had to work on figuring out what color to make the nose, skin, eyebrows and how to change it so it tells the story of the face and the bone structure. The Glamour Lady is looking over her shoulder and the flowers make the painting very different. 

As a child, Carolyn Burger could draw anything and enjoyed art in elementary school. In those days, they would put something in the newspaper that would say, “draw this” and send it in. “My parents encouraged me to submit a drawing and see what happens. They accepted me to their mail in ‘art school,’ where they would send you a booklet with instructions you would mail–in a finished piece. In return, you received a grade with suggestions. The challenge was… there was no real teacher to talk to.” Carolyn completed several books until it got to cartooning. She did not care for cartooning, however, so she stopped. 

When she graduated from high school, Carolyn told her dad she wanted to go to Art school. He replied that she couldn’t go as “you’ll never make enough money to support yourself.” He suggested that she become a teacher and said “you will be a good teacher.”

According to Carolyn, at that time, the choices for most women were limited to teachers, secretaries or nurses—so she became a teacher and used her art skills in the classroom. In 1997, the Burgers retired to Marco Island where Carolyn took art classes. Carolyn’s artworks can be viewed through her website: carolynburger.com. 

The Gathering is Juan Diaz’s artist solo exhibition featured in the Lauritzen Gallery, from January 11 – March 2, 2021.  

Artist Juan Diaz was born in Bogota, Columbia, and at an early age, his natural artistic gifts were quickly recognized. Diaz has used painting and drawing to explore the human condition. His work reflects a constant search to express his understanding of the human experience and his desire to break out of his own comfort zone. Diaz’s exhibit will feature art in oils, acrylics and mixed media. 

Diaz is a local artist and he first came to Marco Island Center for the Arts as a student participant from Naples High School in 1999 and in the then–annual High School Student Scholarship Competition and Exhibition. 

His art has been exhibited at the Baker Museum of Art/Artis-Naples, The Naples Depot Museum, Florida Gulf Coast University and Art Basel Miami Beach. Commissions include the Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida and The Naples Art Association. 

Diaz was the recipient of the Southwest Florida 2013 FACE Award for Culture & Arts awarded by Gulfshore Life Business Magazine and the 1999 Porter Goss Award.  

Marco Island Center for the Arts was founded in 1969 by a dedicated group of artists and patrons. The non-profit Center for the Arts has developed into a place to gather, to learn, and to become inspired. They offer classes and workshops for adults and children. The Center for the Arts brings a wide variety of arts to the community including visual, music, literature and special presentations. It is a showcase for local, national and international artists in many disciplines. It’s located at 1010 Winterberry Drive and open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 4 PM.