Fort Myers Beach Art Association Inc

Student Art Awards: Seniors at Cypress Lake High School, an arts magnet school in Fort Myers, receive annual awards from the Art Association. The association pays a judge, who also discusses the students' work and gives them encouragement. Three awards were given, one for $1,200, one for $1,000 and one for $800.

In rented space, the Art Association ran weekly watercolor classes in November, December, January, February and March. It also offered paid short workshops open to the public: Introduction to Pastels, Introduction to Plein Air Painting, and Are You Stuck, a a workshop to solve painters' problems. The rented space also provided two days a week of drop in studio time for members. The space also hosted meetings that drew 30-40 members, and monthly board meetings with 12-16 members. In addition, the Art Association organizes and publicizes two free weekly sessions of outdoor painting that are promoted on Facebook and Instagram. They are open to any artist without charge. The Wednesday group meets year-round and the Saturday group (added this winter) intends to do the same.

Publicizing activities open to the public: The Art Association maintains a website, monthly newsletter (new this year), and Facebook and Instagram pages. These give the public information about activities they might be interested in. These avenues are especially helpful for our two free outdoor painting groups, which anyone can come to. The Art Association uses all these platforms to provide a calendar of events and activities open to the public.

Three juried art shows give artists a venue to display and sell art. These shows also provide opportunities for the public to view original works of art.