Every December, American Art Collector shines a spotlight on Florida’s vibrant art scene as cooler temperatures set in and visitors and art lovers from across the nation look to Florida to buy artwork in-person or online.
Aerial view of the downtown Miami bay area. Photo by Gabriel Garcia. Courtesy Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, MiamiandBeaches.com.
In the wake of Hurricane Ian, our 16th annual Art Lover’s Guide to Collecting Fine Art in Florida is especially important. From a statewide level to towns and communities to individual businesses and their owners and families, Florida needs our support. As advocates of the arts, that is how we—as publishers, collectors, art lovers, galleries and artists—can help.
The pandemic engendered a shift to virtual events of all kinds, including gallery and museum exhibitions, auctions, art shows and fairs. That trend has continued despite the return of in-person gatherings, as collectors realized the ease of purchasing art from the comfort of their homes and galleries realized that online exhibitions reached a much wider audience.
Seven Mile Bridge and Bahia Honda State Park in the lower Florida Keys. Photo credit: VISIT FLORIDA
Plenty of Florida art happenings, many of which are featured in this issue, will be proceeding as planned and the presenters are gearing up for the height of their busy season. The popular, ever-expanding Miami Art Week brings a myriad of blue-chip contemporary art fairs and shows to the city beginning November 29. Over the ensuing week, visitors can attend Spectrum Miami and Red Dot Miami at the expansive Mana Wynwood Convention Center and the cutting-edge Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. Photo credit: Stacy Hilton
In these pages you will also find events in charming smaller cities like Bradenton, located on the Manatee River south of Tampa; Tequesta, a village in Jupiter Island; Naples and more.
And even if you don’t find yourself traveling in person, you can still enjoy virtual tours of your favorite galleries, exhibitions and events, bringing a piece of the Florida art scene to you.
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ArtCenter Manatee
209 9th Street West, Bradenton, FL 34205
(941) 746-2862
www.artcentermanatee.org
ArtCenter Manatee is the premier visual arts center in Manatee County, featuring exhibits that change monthly and feature local, regional, national and international artists in three galleries. The Center also offers over 350 classes and an artisan giftshop.
ArtCenter Manatee, On the Prowl, ink on scratchboard, 18 x 24", by Patrick Hedges.
ArtCenter Manatee will host 17 premier exhibitions in 2022 and 2023, two of which will be international. The International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA) will feature the predominantly figurative work of more than 100 scratchboard artists from eight countries and will be on display in ArtCenter Manatee’s Kellogg Gallery from November 30 through December 30, 2022. An opening reception will be held December 1 from 5 to 7 p.m.
ArtCenter Manatee, Midnight Snack, ink on scratchboard, 16 x 20", by Sue Kroll.
ArtCenter Manatee, Out to Impress, ink on scratchboard, 18 x 24", by Cathy Sheeter.
The International Watercolor Society (IWS) Florida USA will be at ArtCenter Manatee from February 28 to March 31, 2023. Also in the Kellogg Gallery, this high-caliber biennial exhibit will feature work from approximately 20 countries, representing the best in watercolor from around the world. An opening reception will be held March 2, 2023 from 5 to 7 p.m.
“ArtCenter Manatee is a small gem,” says artist, author and educator Mary Whyte. “The staff, classes and facility offer the best in inspiration for both budding and advanced artists.”
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Lara Restelli Art Studio
1818 SW 1st Avenue, Ste. #302
Miami, FL 33139
www.lararestelli.com
artstudio@lararestelli.com
Lara Restelli’s fascination for stones, gems and minerals carried her on a journey of exploration and discovery. Their exuberant colors and vibrant energy captivated her and drove her to make them the primary subject of her work. Naturally, color, form and composition became the pillars of her artistic expression. She paints larger-than-life, realistic paintings of rocks, gems and crystals that are full of color. Restelli’s oil paintings convey a great sense of joy, balance and serenity, yet they are strong and powerful.
Lara Restelli, Rocks in a Box Orange, oil on canvas, 18 x 24"
Lara Restelli, Rocks in a Box Blue, oil on canvas, 18 x 24"
Restelli’s mastery of her media, together with a skillful technique, make her art stand out and impress. Her powerful management of feelings, color and composition results in a final contemporary masterpiece that delights and profoundly connects with the viewer.
Lara Restelli is a Miami-based artist whose artwork has found its way into the homes and prestigious condominiums of many Miami-based private collectors.
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Naples Art District
5850 Shirley Street, Unit 104
Naples, FL 34109
(239) 249-1977
www.naplesartdistrict.com
naplesartdistrict@gmail.com
If you’re visiting Naples, Florida, don’t overlook the burgeoning Naples Art District. Close to some of the most exclusive real estate and hotels in the area, the district is home to more than 100 artists and artisans of all kinds. Chock full of design shops and home-building contractors, artists have formed a vibrant community where open studio events, special themed events, workshops and classes abound throughout the season. It’s one of the few places in Naples where collectors can meet artists in their studios and buy from them directly. Visitors will find artists working in various media, including drawing, painting, sculpture and photography, among others.
Artist Jill Gordon working at Studio 22 in the Naples Art District.
Naples Art District, Flowers Make me Happy, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40", by Valerie Blauvelt.
Naples Art District, Intuitive Moment, acrylic, mixed media on canvas, 24 x 24", by Sandee Mahler.
In collaboration with a county-wide celebration of Hispanic arts and culture, this season’s special events will include a Feliz Navidad celebration and a two-week Frida Fest featuring original artworks inspired by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Three times a month from November through May, 2023, studios are open for touring during Art Alive! events. Artful Arrangements, in February 2023, is an interpretive floral design event based on art produced by district artists. The Art & Design EXPO in March 2023 will pair artists and interior designers hosting workshops on art-inspired interiors. Visit the Naples Art District website for a map and further details on events and individual artists.
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Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery & School of Art
373 Tequesta Drive
Tequesta, FL 33469
(561) 746-3101
www.lighthousearts.org
Lighthouse ArtCenter is a nonprofit art center whose mission is to inspire, engage and connect the community through a vibrant school of art, unique exhibitions and diverse special events. The center is located in the seaside town of Tequesta, Florida, and has grown into a three-building campus with multiple galleries, eight studios and an ArtShop.
Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery & School of Art, Tequesta Glow, oil, 16 x 20", by Mark Shasha.
Lighthouse ArtCenter will host a wide variety of exhibitions and events in coming months.The 2022 to 2023 season brings several avant-garde exhibitions. Showing through December 10, 2022, The World According to Hunt Slonem presents the widely-collected neo-expressionist artist Hunt Slonem known for his paintings of wildlife exotica—birds, rabbits and butterflies. Running concurrently, LUSH2 is a juried contemporary ceramics exhibition judged by famed ceramicist Brian Rochefort.
Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery & School of Art, Chinesis, oil, 101 x 77", by Hunt Slonem.From January 19 through March 1, 2023, Grammy Award-winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jason Newsted and Nicole Newsted present Like Mind which features their individual large and small-scale work.
From March 5 through 11, 2023, Lighthouse ArtCenter welcomes 35 award-winning plein air artists from all over the country to compete in the highly anticipated and juried 10th Annual Plein Air Festival.
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Tampa Museum of Art
Cornelia Corbett Center
120 W. Gasparilla Plaza
Tampa, FL 33602
(813) 274-8130
www.tampamuseum.org 
Tampa Museum of Art, Road to Exile, 2018, wooden boat, cloth bundles, glass bottles, and plastic containers,120 x 60 x 45", by Barthélémy Toguo. Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Miami.
Tampa Museum of Art, The Palace of Quilombos, Gonalves 1793, 2015, acrylic and ink on canvas, 72 x 84", by Umar Rashid. Jorge M. Pérez Collection, Miami. © Umar Rashid.On view through March 12, 2023, Time for Change: Art and Social Unrest in the Jorge M. Pérez Collection looks at how artists explore conflicts and contradictions of contemporary society, as well as how they analyze historical events and reframe them within the present. An interest in the marginalized, the marginal and the margins (of society, of history) unites the works in the exhibition. Time for Change was first presented as the inaugural exhibition in December 2020 at El Espacio 23, a contemporary art space founded by collector and philanthropist Jorge M. Pérez. Featuring artists from around the globe, the exhibition highlights art—from painting and sculpture to video and works on paper—that addresses unrest through allegory, metaphor or veiled allusion.
Time for Change was curated by José Roca for El Espacio 23.
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Suzie Seerey-Lester
www.Seerey-Lester.com
seereylester@msn.com
Suzie Seerey-Lester has won several distinguished awards for her art. She is on the Society of Animal Artists board of directors and her art is featured in Western Visions at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming. In 2016, Seerey-Lester was awarded the prestigious Rose Award by the Susan K. Black Foundation and was featured in a joint show called Keeping the World Wild at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of National History.
Suzie Seerey-Lester, Let’s Dance, acrylic, 10 x 36"She has also been chosen for numerous exhibitions presented by the Society of Animal Artists, American Women Artists, the Art Renewal Center, and has received multiple awards for works in the annual Southeast Invitational Miniature Art Show. She has been featured in the Waterfowl Festival and has participated in Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Musem's Birds in Art exhibition for many years. She is also the author of “My Painting is Done; Now What do I Do?”
Suzie Seerey-Lester, Snow Day, acrylic on panel, 12 x 6"
Other accolades include receiving the President’s Volunteer Service Award in 2008 and the Simon Combes Award for Conservation in 2014.
“I think what inspires me is the uniqueness of nature,” says Seerey-Lester. “There are no straight lines, and the colors! To gather the exceptional reference, I spend a good amount of time in the field photographing my subjects, even if it is a clump of grass.” 
Suzie Seerey-Lester, Huckleberries, acrylic on panel, 12 x 6"
Seerey-Lester also teaches at Triple “D” Wildlife each year, which she loves. “I learn something new each time I teach,” she says. “Triple ‘D’ has incredible animals that are released in front of us, with nothing between us and the animals, in natural settings for us to photograph and sketch. Then I teach the students how to paint what we just saw—snow leopards, mountain lions, packs of wolves, grizzly, black bear and all kinds of foxes.”
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Patricia (Pati) Maguire
342 NE 1st Avenue
Delray Beach, FL 33444
(561) 716-5686
www.patimaguire.com
Artist Patricia (Pati) Maguire paints what moves her. “Often, it is the beauty of light falling on an object, the drama or beauty of a landscape, or the way a person’s bearing and manner touch a nerve,” says Maguire. “Sometimes it is current events (like the pandemic).”
Patricia Maguire, Calm, oil on canvas, 24 x 28"
Patricia Maguire, On the Hunt, oil on canvas, 30 x 40"
For Maguire, painting is internal expression, communication and therapy. “A painting that touches something inside you will always look right in your home, because everything you have chosen to surround yourself with has also touched you on some level,” she says.
“I hope I have managed to convey my love of Florida, and that you are moved to explore my website for more images and information.” —
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