Discover Entertainers
Shown below is a list of area artists who are members of the United Arts Council.
Please note: All images are copyrighted by the artist. Reproduction of them is illegal without written permission from the artist.
Alexander Goldstein, is a music composer composing classical crossover and film scores for 27 feature films and over 300 documentaries. Goldstein is cinematographer and director. Naples, Fl Redifingin Paradise and Southwest Florida Jewish Pioneers.
Amanda studied English at Southwestern A/G University. Art was always in the back of her mind, but it didn’t seem to be a realistic option. While publishing books with a curriculum company was exciting, the need to create something different was too great to ignore.
After reading countless books, studying techniques, watching documentaries on everything from the old masters to modern artists, it was time to try her hand at painting. She found art making exhilarating and mesmerizing.
She began selling artwork in 2021 and made finalist in the 2023 Camelback Gallery Competition.
I have always been an artist of some sort. When I was a small child I would take the cardboard pieces out of my dad's laundered shirts to paint and draw upon. I couldn't wait for the next delivery of clean shirts as it would be loaded with many a blank canvases for me to make my creations. I use to get paint by number kits as gifts, however, I was never one to stay in the lines so with those paints, my imagination and the cardboard inserts from my Dad's shirts I would paint, and paint and paint.
I love art, and the creative process in all media. Besides fine arts and crafts, dance and music were other avenues of expression that I used during my youth and influences my work to this day.
When I was in my twenties I was a disco and ball room dancer. I belonged to a dance troupe in the Cleveland, Ohio area called Hollywood & Company. Dancing was a fun and exciting outlet for me to express myself.
Soon after relocating to Pennsylvania in my late twenties, I was hit by a drunk driver and that put an end to my dancing career. But not to the passion of what I felt when dancing, which remained within. I continued to pursue the arts. I was encouraged and delighted to interview, compete, present and get accepted to The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the first and oldest art school in America. I worked hard and graduated with honors. It started me on an amazing artistic journey.
After graduation and several years later I was an invited artist in residence of CIEM - Center De L'Image Et De L' Estampe De Mirage' - Mirabel, Que'bec, Canada, where I was asked to also participate in the Route des Arts.
During my residency stay, my work took a new direction and I began to explore capturing music and dance in my art. I did and do this by utilizing the memories of the movement that are stirred (by my years of dance) by the performances and my drawing skills. This enables me to capture the very breath of the performance giving it life and permanence after the each fleeting moment fades through the line drawings, paintings and mixed media works that I create.Upon returning to the states an invitation ensued by Jon Sherman, professor of ballet at Swarthmore College to create during his classes. A short time thereafter I was a residence artist in the performing arts department where I created work while attending classes as well as teaching drawing from dance through a satellite program.
Taking what I learned and who I had become as a teacher I founded The AnA Project whose mission was to bring the arts to people of all ages through workshops and performances. Making an impact by employing artists to give back within a 3-5 mile of work or home. This became a true calling of mine and I enjoyed many successful years. When the pandemic hit in 2019 -2020 it was decided to dissolve the AnA project.
In December of 2021 I moved to Florida where I have a studio/gallery and work creating and teaching from movement as well as mixed media and collage once again.
Arlen Smith is a Nicaraguan American artist born in 1984. Based in Ave Maria,
she strives to capture the natural environment with unprecedented moments captured in
time. She studied Photography and Fine Arts at Florida International University where
she received her Bachelors of Fine Arts and a Master in the Art of Teaching. Arlen has
taught Art and Photography for eleven years across South Florida. Her landscape work
encompasses vibrant colors and textures that change moment to moment. Arlen paints
subjects that include landscapes, animals, and portraits. Her medium of choice is oil,
watercolors, and photography. Ultimately, the work of the great impressionists inspires
her art, and she hopes to communicate her artistic voice through her paintings.
Austin Bell is an award-winning museum curator, author, and photographer. A Florida native, Austin enjoys capturing the beauty of his home state, typically on film using vintage cameras that are older than he is.
Austin is the Curator of Collections for the Marco Island Historical Society, a Consulting Scholar to the Penn Museum, and the founder and owner of Florida Man Photography. He enjoys blending his passions for history, nature, and photography in a way that he hopes will inspire appreciation and reflection.
His photography has been exhibited throughout Florida and has won awards at the Marco Island Center for the Arts, the A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery, and the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center. In September 2023, Austin debuted a solo exhibition at the Marco Island Center for Arts, titled “Re:Location,” which featured double-exposed black-and-white film prints of some of Marco Island’s most historic places.
Bonny Hawley weaves from the fabrics of ancient worlds and threads of her imagination to create her mysterious flowing large scale mixed media artworks. She strives to uplift and inspire the viewers' spirit, and is deeply inspired by the beauty and serenity of the water and her nature surroundings in South West Florida.Experimentation and Imagination are the driving forces in her work. Never one to color in the lines she is constantly striving to try new techniques and pushing the limits of the traditional processes. The Art consists of acrylic mixed media collage with layers of papers, prints, metallic paints and a unique glazing technique on textured surfaces and free flowing supports.Bonny has been a professional full time working studio artist for 40 years. Originally from Kansas she graduated with a BFA in Art from FHSU, and has lived in Naples Florida for the last 30 years. Represented by fine art galleries across the country, the work is in private and corporate collections in the United States, Europe and Asia."Living by the ocean inspires and heals me, the flow of the water, the changing tides and the supreme power that controls it all."
Brendon McDonnell is a professional musician based in Naples, Fl.
Software development includes Bandosaurus, the new standard for music &
agency event booking and management!
Carmen Villaronga is a professional artist painter presently residing in Naples, Florida USA. She is also a freelance self taught photographer. The main themes in her work involve nature - birds, landscapes, ocean scenes and life. Her paintings either in acrylic or oil display a contrast between light and dark by using colors and hues in a manner that gently calls for the viewer’s attention. Carmen’s works compel the viewer to experience emotions of wonder, joy, and serenity.
Carmen was born in Puerto Rico, but grew up in Newark, NJ where she was inspired by her 7th grade art teacher, Mrs. Allen, to become an artist. She studied fine arts at the University of Puerto Rico under the influence of artists such as John Balossi, Luis Hernandez Cruz, Rafael Rivera Garcia and Jaime Romano. (1967-1971) Presently she attends Arturo Samaniego’s Studio in Naples Art Distrct.
After her studies at the University of Puerto Rico Carmen took a long hiatus from the arts to raise a family. During this time she attended Florida International University and St. Thomas Catholic University to become an academic educator.
Recently, Carmen has reconnected with her passion for painting in acrylic and oil. She is presenting her work in open venues and also accepting commissions. Some of her pieces have received recognition, sold, and been auctioned. She has exhibited with organizations such as United Artists of Collier, Marco Island Center for the Arts, Bonita Springs Visual Arts Center, Naples Arts, Rookery Bay Estuarine Reserve and Research Center, and AIR (Artists in Residence) at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Marco Island.
When not painting, out photographing, or traveling; Carmen can be found enjoying family time with her children and grandchildren. She lives year-round in Naples with her two dogs - Aly and Sophie.
My name is Christine Lee Wickel and I am a retired teacher turned Alcohol Ink artist! The colorful floral abstract paintings you will find on this website are inspired by my surroundings in Southwest Florida. My style emanates from my ability to discern concrete forms in abstract settings.
This phenomenon is called Pareidolia. Seeing an elephant in the clouds is an example.I developed my passion for painting through my art minor at Longwood University and continued to take art courses and workshops throughout my life.
Since its introduction in 2016, Alcohol Inks have been used primarily as a crafters material creating cards and holiday ornaments. Since 2018 these inks have slowly gained popularity and are emerging as a serious fine art medium.I am passionate about working with these vibrant, unpredictable inks as they inspire me to “think out of the box".
Please take some time to explore my site and contact me with any questions.
Christy Noonan I think of myself as an abstract painter. My vision in painting is to bridge the physical forms in Nature with the formulas of movement and light on canvas.I studied Art at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and later continued my formal studies through the N.Y. Studio school workshops, in Naples and with Hollis Jeffcoat, once Director of the Paris Division and founder of The Silver Tree School of Painting and Drawing.As an artist, “The need is for the connection to nature within ourselves; only then can we understand how to act towards nature outside ourselves.”
Dani Papanikolaou (or Papa for short) is a mixed media painter and sketchbook artist that explores saturation and line in a variety of forms, usually with nude figures as his vehicle for expression. Papa’s style and aesthetic is inspired by urban tribalism, Neo-Expressionism, abstraction, action painters, and street art, with an exploration in mark-making and color dissonance. As a live painting performer, Papa transcends improv to instinct with each canvas and practice.
Dani Papa has been an educator, mentor, and community leader for the past eight years while residing in southwest Florida. His long-term goals reside in continuing education, essentially branching off into the university realm and philanthropic efforts once Papa finishes his MFA in Painting online at Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD).
Florida enriches my desire to capture the colors and beauty with photos and express what I have seen on canvas.
I am a self-taught artist. I have painted since junior high. I love to paint in oils or acrylics the beautiful Gulf, sunsets, flowers, or whatever a client may have an idea for a piece or a photograph for a painting.
Recently I have expanded into abstract or expression painting. I love working with a variety is beautiful and bright colors. Especially to make a “happy” painting.
Debbie W Nelson earned a BA Degree in History of Art from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.
Debbie had a lifetime career as a wildlife conservationist, as C0-founder and C0-Director of “Kangaroo Conservation Center”, which was a conservation park and educational facility North of Atlanta, Georgia until 2013. Her facility housed the largest collection of kangaroos outside of Australia in natural environments, as well as numerous other wildlife species from Africa, Asia and South America. She enjoyed the educational aspect of teaching the importance of conservation and introducing animal species on numerous television shows around the world. The Center was a long-time member of AZA, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and was a recipient of the “2002 International Conservation Award” from the Association for creating and supporting a safe wild habitat in Papua New Guinea for endangered tree kangaroos, as well as for the successful captive breeding of endangered Matschie’s Tree Kangaroos at her Center in Georgia. Her love of animals and support of effective wildlife conservation continues even though she no longer works in the field. She credits her wildlife paintings to showing the animal's personality, in a positive light due to her years of establishing close relationships with many animals of various species.
She was honored to be awarded 3rd place in the international Endangered Fine Art & Photography Competition in Miami, Florida, in December 2019 for her painting “Sarus Cranes”. Her art has been exhibited at festivals and competitions across South Florida. She chooses to exhibit at festivals in her home base, Florida, although her clients range across the USA.
Debbie grew up in Naples and returned in recent years to live here full-time. As an outdoor enthusiast, she enjoys the tropical environment for both fauna and flora.
I am a self-taught, multi-award winning international abstract acrylic artist, author, audio engineer and entrepreneur located in southwest Florida.
Both of my parents died in their early 50's, so I have always had a certain quest for living life to the fullest, and for the spirit of adventure.
Consequently, I have traveled to over 100 countries gathering inspiration for my paintings over the past 20 years. InJanuary of 2018, my wife Mary and I sold our house, cars and furniture and traveled to 73 different countries all around the globe over a 2 1/2 year period before getting stuck in Quito, Ecuador when the pandemic hit. We traveled 134,000 miles, visited 251 cities and stayed in 128 different accommodations over the course of the trip.
Some highlights included: The Pyramids, The Louvre, TheGreat Wall of China, Hiroshima, Japan, Angkor Wat, Auschwitz, The Acropolis, Machu Picchu, Pompeii, PanamaCanal, Iguazu Falls, The Berlin Wall, Pearl Harbor and an African safari. We skydived in Fiji, repelled waterfalls in Costa Rica, zip-lined in Panama, para-glided off the cliffs in Madeira, watched the sunrise from a hot air balloon in Cappadocia, Turkey, observed the stars from the Dark Sky Reserve in New Zealand, hiked the Rainbow Mountains in Peru and we even worked at an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I created my "Wanderlust Series" to commemorate our epic trip and all 6 pieces are now for sale in my online store.
When I retired from a successful high tech startup in 2017 just before my 59th birthday, I soon rediscovered my passion for painting after a long hiatus. Once I had created enough inventory, I launched my art business and online store in the fall of 2020. I aspire to follow in the footsteps of other late bloomers in life such as Colonel Sanders, Grandma Moses, Paul Cezanne and Frank McCourt.
I have been told that looking at my paintings is comparable to lying on your back, looking up at the clouds and trying to interpret the shapes that you see. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a whole lot of fun to me!
The heart and soul of my paintings emanates from vividly seeing colors and shapes in my daily life and from the adventures that I have had all around the world. I have been passionate about abstract art since I was a child. Most of my paintings attempt to capture a dream or experience that I have had at some point in my past. Music plays a key role in conjuring up day dreams, which many times, I even have a hard time understanding. Somehow, between my head, heart and hand, I reproduce these memories on canvas for others to interpret with me.
Of course, in every place I have traveled to I have also been inspired by the art I have seen in galleries and museums. I have especially enjoyed the works of Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Miro, Alexander Calder and Jackson Pollock. My artwork is a reflection of my life’s journey, adventures and experiences and I am thrilled to be able to share it with you.
I am happy to report that over 100 pieces of my artwork now hang in homes all across the U.S. and Europe. It has been very gratifying to create work that people actually feel a connection to.
While I am not painting, I enjoy going to the theater and live music events, playing golf and softball, traveling with my wife and recording music in my home studio.
I also race stock cars and have done so on 23 NASCAR tracks across the country for the last 12 years and still enjoy doing so today. My top speed was 180 MPH at Talladega Speedway! My favorite track was Indianapolis.
As a former music producer and concert promoter, I am a huge fan of adult alternative music. I have published over100 playlists on Spotify under "Alternative Tastemaker" and"Tastemaker Spectrum". You can follow me here: Garry'sSpotify
In the spirit of giving back to the arts community, I served as the President of the Art Council of Southwest Florida(ACSWF) in 2022, which is an "umbrella" 501 (c) (3)organization consisting of 21 art associations, 2 cooperative galleries and over 6,000 member artists and craftspeople. I'm currently serving as a Board Member of Marco IslandCenter for the Visual and Performing Arts.
Gary Day works with printmaking, computer generated imagery, animation, and game design. Bornnear Great Falls, Montana, he received a BA from Montana State University and an MFA from Florida State University. Day is a professor emeritus from the University of Nebraska Omaha. As theformer director of the UNO Print Workshop, he printed and published over 80 editions by more than50 artists including Alice Aycock, Siah Armajani, Edgar Heap of Birds, Michelle Stuart, RogerShimomura, Karl Wirsum, and Barbara Zucker.
An early adopter of computer graphics, Day took computer science courses at the University ofNebraska Omaha from 1982-86. He has continued to combine traditional mediums and digital media since the early 1980’s. Today he works with 3D modeling and game design programs in combination with digital printers and hand work to produce prints, drawings, handmade books and animations. Day has been a visiting artist in Belgium, Israel, Spain, and the American Academy in Rome. He has received numerous grants and awards including an Individual Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His prints and animations, nationally and internationally exhibited, are included in many public and private collections.
Saxophonist Gerald Augustin was born in 1988 in Fort Myers. FL He graduated from Cypress Lake High School and went on to study saxophone at Edison State University with Dennis Hill. Gerald received jazz instruction from the renowned Southwest Florida-based trumpeter Dan Miller, then from Gary Campbell at Florida International University in Miami.Gerald's improvising style draws on many sources—Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong. He started playing professionally at the age of 16 and has performed throughout Florida for functions for major corporations, events and weddings, then recently at Carnegie Hall in New York. He has also appeared on the Norwegian Star cruise line.
Gerald's performing credits include Bobby Watson, Wycliff Gordon, Barbara Morrison, and Curtis Lundy.
Giampaolo E. Curreri was born and lived in Milano, Italy, he frequented art schools concluding with advertising and marketing degrees his professional education and becoming an advertising executive. With his family, he resided in San Francisco, California for 37 years before relocating in 2018 to Naples, Florida.
Inish is a band that performs mostly traditional Irish music made for dancing & listening. Members perform on concertina, fiddle, tin whistle and guitar.
“The Florida Fiddler Show” A musical monologue of Florida History Heritage and Hope! A conversation between a little boy and his grandfather becomes an elegantly homespun story of pioneer spirit still alive today! Traditional and contemporary fiddle tunes are brought to life with original songs and stories presented by Florida native musician, J.Robert…from “Orange Blossom Special” “Florida Blues” and “Devil Went Down to Florida” to “Margaritaville!”
I was born and raised in New Jersey, the daughter of a scientist and a stay-at-home mom who was greatly interested in the arts. Because of that unique combination, I grew up surrounded by music and theater and by discussions of evolution and chemistry–a true liberal arts education!
That education continued when I moved to Boston. Deciding to concentrate more on the arts than the sciences, I earned a BA in English at Boston College and an MS in television broadcasting at Boston University.
Like my own mother, I was a stay-at-home mom (to two wonderful sons) for a few years after graduating. But then I discovered I could freelance for local newspapers, a situation that gave me the best of two worlds.Although my sons are now grown, I still enjoy the freedom that freelancing gives me.
My writings have appeared nationally and in such local publications as Gulfshore Life, Times of the Islands and Naples Health . I also do considerable writing for not-for-profit organizations. In 2001, I was chosen "Writer of the Year" by the Florida Magazine Association. I am also a field producer for WGCU Public Media, having worked on such shows as Arts Edition Prime Time, Connect! and MAKERS: The Women Who Make Southwest Florida.
Jill Gordon’s paintings are characterized by energetic brush strokes, bold marks and vibrant color – whether abstract or representational.
A graduate of the University of Connecticut, Jill Gordon has studied at The School of Visual Arts in New York; The Silvermine Art Guild in New Canaan, CT; Great River Arts in Vermont; and The Bonita Springs Arts Center in Florida. Her corporate careers were in advertising and the hospitality industry. First as TV Producer for national New York advertising agencies followed by Director of Sales and Marketing for The Inn at National Hall, a Relais & Chateaux hotel in Westport, CT. She now devotes most of her time to her art. Jill and her husband live in Naples, FL and Westport, CT. Avid travelers and bicyclists, their travels provide inspiration for her art.
A member of United Arts Collier and The Naples Art District. In Naples, Jill works and exhibits in her own Studio 22 at Artisans Plaza on Shirley Street. She is also represented by Aldecor Custom Framing and Gallery on Trade Center Way.
jillhgordon@gmail.com
Jo-Ann Sanborn‘s acrylic paintings focus on the Florida landscape. Her strongcompositions and uncommon colors bring simplicity and integrity to her work.
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JoAnne is an abstract/impressionist artist based in Naples, FL who works in a free and intuitive approach letting the painting emerge through the color, movement, and lines applied to the canvas until the emotions of the piece emerge. Color is a powerful tool in invoking emotions on canvas and JoAnne couples the use of color with the music playing in her studio to maximize the energy of the piece. Her goal is to invoke an emotional response from her work based on vivid color, composition,
and harmony. Each viewer’s response to JoAnne’s abstract work may differ slightly based on their individual experiences. Such is the wonderful concept of abstract art!
JoAnne’s art career blossomed after she retired from the corporate world. She fell in love with the creative process and the joy experienced when a piece has been completed. She becomes completely immersed in the painting, waiting for the story to emerge, and trying to do the story justice. Sometimes the canvas will toy with the intuitive artist, presenting challenges and surprises along the way. The success of the painting will depend on the patience of the artist to coax the painting into becoming the beautiful soul in the artist’s mind. JoAnne’s goal is always to connect others to the emotions of curiosity, excitement, danger, and peace through the color and movement on her canvas.
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Shapses’ Award winning sculptures are prominently displayed in private collections and public venues throughout North America and Europe. The more, avantgarde statements that are made in the mixture of neon, led lights, metal, fused glass and stone media to elicit an excitement that occurs when the artist takes a quantum leap toward ingenuity. Whether realistic or abstract, the viewer's tactile senses are aroused with almost a sense of urgency to explore each form in greater depth than just visually.
Born in New Jersey, he has spent most of his life on the Eastern coast of the U.S. Having an inherent artistic gift, he began sculpting in a primitive way at the age of five. Much of his schooling concentrated on the sciences. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from C.W. Post College in 1967. It was during his studies here that famed sculptor and professor, Alfred Van Loen, recognized his talent. After college Joel then completed four years at Temple University where he graduated with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1971.
Shapses traveled throughout the world at which time he acquired much knowledge about how and where various stones were quarried and how various civilizations had used them creatively throughout the centuries.
Soon after his travels, he relocated to South Florida, which has remained his residence since 1972. Joel Shapses practiced general and cosmetic dentistry in the Ft Lauderdale area from 1972 to 2006 creating a dual career, dentistry and sculpture. Early on in his sculpting career, he worked under the same roof as famed sculptor Enzo Gallo.
From a period of over the fifty-five years Joel has exhibited in many shows and has won over seventy awards and is in collections in North and South America. While in Ft. Lauderdale Shapses owned an Art Gallery (Gallery 421) and created his works in his studio in Ft Lauderdale for over thirty years. To date he has completed over eight hundred works of art in glass,stone,bronze and aluminum.
In July ‘07 he moved to Naples and has since the opened a new studio 6201 Shirley St #16 and Gallery located at the Fairways Trade Village 6240 Shirley St Suite 102 in Naples, FL. 954.980.3156 www.joelshapsesstudio.com
Gallery representation:
Saatchi Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca, London, UK
Singular Art,Berlin,Germany
TriCera art ,Tokyo,Japan
Juan Diaz was born in 1981 in Bogota, Colombia. His father graduated from Colombia's National University with an emphasis in fine art and recognized his son's natural creative intelligence and artistic gifts by age 5. After graduating high school in 1999, Diaz studied art history, materials, and techniques independently.
Jonathan Green Studios granted a three-year Artist Residency (2006-2009) to mentor Diaz in administrative-management methods, and more recently, artist Marcus Jansen provides international art affairs advisory.
Since the late 1990s, Diaz has used painting and drawing to explore the human condition. He added performing art and installations in 2010 to investigate the relationship between life and death. His work reflects a constant search to express his understanding of the human experience and shows a desire to break out of his own comfort zone.
Diaz’ work has been included 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 Southwest Florida 2013 FACE Award for Culture & Arts awarded by Gulfshore Life Business Magazine and the 1999 Porter Goss Award. His style, mastery of drawing and use of oils has earned him a range of awards, including Best in Show and various scholarships.
