Former Exhibits


Connections
Various Artists
In recent years, it has become increasingly important for all of us to celebrate, value and strengthen our connections to each other and the world around us. Artists were asked to create work for this exhibition that explores the idea of connection. The display features 28 pieces of artwork in the mediums of oil, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media, collage and photography.

New Frontiers
Various Student Artists
The Alliance for the Arts invited students from the Lee County School District to create original artwork with the theme, New Frontiers. Teachers and students were challenged to explore and express artistically the ways we grow and learn through challenging times. This exhibit features 30 canvases from elementary, middle and high school students.

Pop of Color
Various Artists
The Lee County Port Authority and Lee County Alliance for the Arts invited local artists to color some of our walls at Southwest Florida International Airport. The exhibition, Pop of Color, features 29 vibrant mixed-media pieces.

Wild Things: The Florida Everglades
Various Student Artists
The Alliance for the Arts invited students from the Lee County School District to create original artwork with the theme, Wild Things: The Florida Everglades. Teachers and young artists were asked to explore the Florida Everglades and be inspired by the wonders of the wild things that live there. This exhibit features 29 canvases submitted by local elementary, middle and high schools.

My Florida
Various Artists
The Alliance for the Arts invited local artists to think about what living in Florida means to them. This exhibition features 30 vibrant canvases showcasing My Florida. 

By the Sea
Various Artists
This stunning exhibition features the work of 10 Florida photographers, who expressed their thoughts and captured the beauty and mystery along our Florida coastline. 

My Sky
Various Student Artists 
Art students from the Lee County School District were asked to create original artwork of their vision for My Sky. Thirty-two canvas pieces were submitted by 29 local elementary, middle and high schools. This unique collection is colorful, imaginative and features space, planes, beautiful skies and more! 

Dúo Sinfónico 
Edgardo Carmona
Dúo Sinfónico is a 10-foot-tall iron sculpture that captures a moment in which a flutist and his beautiful tunes attract a chirping bird to sing in duo with him. This piece is part of a larger exhibit, Allure Your Senses, currently on display in downtown Fort Myers and is the first time Carmona has exhibited his art in North America.

“Art in Flight” A 10-Year Anniversary (2005–2015)
Flight - the act, skill or manner of flying, a journey made by a flying animal or object, rapid movement or progress, a soaring mental journey above or beyond the normal everyday world. To celebrate 10 years of sharing local art with the millions of passengers who travel through Southwest Florida International Airport, the Lee County Port Authority and the Lee County Alliance for the Arts bring you 34 paintings, in multiple mediums. 

The News-Press Media Group
In celebration of The News-Press Media Group’s 130-year anniversary, an exhibit featuring a collection of front pages of top news is on display at Southwest Florida International Airport. The exhibit showcases a selection of local Southwest Florida news like “Airport Shows Class on First Day,” to national stories such as “Nixon Resigns,” to international news of “Men Walk on Moon.” There are 20 large front pages of news throughout the years for passengers and airport visitors to read when traveling through RSW.

Dawn's Forest
Louise Nevelson
A magnificent work of contemporary sculpture titled, Dawn's Forest, created by American artist, Louise Nevelson (1899-1988). Dawn's Forest is Nevelson's largest, most complex environmental sculpture and her last major work. Created in the artist's signature assemblage style, the monumental sculpture is made of various white-painted abstract wood elements. The tree-like standing columns, as tall as 25 feet, and vertical hanging pieces all underscore the forest-like atmosphere of the pieces. The art is on loan to the Lee County Port Authority by the Naples Museum of Art.

Igor Korotash
Three works of art by Igor Korotash, a Ukrainian-born artist, who paints landscapes in the impressionist style, are on display in the West Atrium. Welcoming You Home, a picture of the lighthouse on Sanibel Island, and White Cottage are located near the Delta Air Lines ticket counter. The larger three-piece painting near the US Airways ticket counter is entitled Iris Pond. The bold, rich colors of these oil on canvas paintings are reflective of Southwest Florida and are on loan from the Gallery on Fifth in Naples, Florida. 

Oh, The Places We Will Go!
Various Student Artist
Lee County School District art students took their imaginations on an adventure to discover the places they would like to go. Students were invited to work with 32-inch by 40-inch canvases and create original artwork for the Oh, The Places We Will Go! exhibit. Thirty pieces were submitted by 26 local elementary, middle and high schools. This unique collection is colorful and vibrant, reflecting travel throughout our world and beyond!

A Seahorse Dream
Ginny Dickinson, Karen Flanders, Leoma Lovegrove
The airport was the temporary home to three seahorses from A Seahorse Dream, a public arts project to raise funds for the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. These works of art are five-foot tall statues, decorated by three local artists.

Honor, Country & Heroism
Various Artists
To honor the men and women of the armed forces, local artists were invited to create original artwork for the Honor, Country & Heroism exhibit. This collection includes 32 canvases submitted by 34 artists, including six military veterans. These pieces feature a vibrant color palette, paying tribute to our country’s heroes and welcoming our troops as they return home to Southwest Florida.

Art of the Olympians
Liston Bochette, Al Oerter and Larry Young
Art of the Olympians shares the ideals of excellence in mind, body and spirit through the fusion of art and sports. Through historic, artistic and educational exhibits, Art of the Olympians connects individuals to the passion, discipline and innovation of the Olympic world to encourage others to excel at their dreams. This exhibit features the drawing titled, Le Petite Couronne by Olympian Liston Bochette, a bobsled and decathlon Olympic athlete competing in 1984 (decathlon) and 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002 (bobsled); the painting titled, Starburst by Olympian artist Al Oerter, a four-time gold medalist in the discus throw, competing in the 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968 Olympics; and the sculpture Tango by Olympian Larry Young, a two-time bronze medalist in 1968 and 1972 and the only American to ever win an Olympic medal in long-distance race walking. Young's sculpture is a replica of his original piece, which is on permanent display at the Walden Sculpture Gardens in Urbana, Ill.

Children of the Everglades
Photographs from the Hanson Family Archives
The Hanson Family Archives is a collection of more than 1,000 historic documents and images from 1884 to the mid-20th century, passed down through five generations of one of Fort Myers' first families. The Children of the Everglades exhibit features large-format photographs, most taken by W. Stanley Hanson in the 1920s and 1930s, depicting the lives of the Seminole-Miccosukee Indian children. The exhibit also includes a display of tribal artifacts and crafts, including patchwork dresses and jackets, sweet grass or pine needle baskets and palmetto dolls.

Fly Me to the Moon
Various Student Artists
"How would you get to the moon?" Lee County School District art teachers used this question as a starting point and let their students' imaginations take flight. Students were invited to work with 32-inch by 40-inch canvases and create original artwork for the Fly Me to the Moon exhibit. Thirty-two pieces were submitted by 30 local elementary, middle and high schools. This unique collection is colorful and vibrant, reflecting outer space, rockets, moons, airplanes, hot air balloons and more!

Turn, Turn, Turn: The Artistic Synthesis of Vinyl into Art
David Acevedo, R. Jackson, Amy Luettich Kellum and Angela Weiss
After purchasing an abandoned storage unit containing 60,000 vinyl records, renowned Captiva artist Rene Miville faced the tough question of what to do with all those records. His answer was to have Florida artists use the albums or their covers, or both, to create art. The result is "Turn, Turn, Turn," an exhibition of artists' uses of the vinyl records through multimedia sculptures curated by Miville. A selection of the exhibit is on display at Southwest Florida International Airport featuring the pieces Hombre by David Acevedo, The Guardian of Vinyl by R. Jackson, Let It Quilting Bee by Amy Luettich Kellum and Universal Language by Angela Weiss.

Remembrance of 9-11
Leoma Lovegrove
Artist Leoma Lovegrove painted this piece during an event to commemorate those who lost their lives in New York City and to honor those who conducted rescue efforts during the 9-11 tragedy. The lyrics of "God Bless America" are emblazoned on the flag itself. Surrounding Lovegrove's work are smaller canvases painted by audience members who seized the opportunity to express their own feelings about that historic day.

Manfred Behr
Manfred Behr's work features large canvas photography prints with an artistic composition, featuring Florida landscapes, flowers and wildlife. Behr is a multi-talented artist who began his career as a commercial artist. Behr earned two awards from the German Ministry of Economy for outstanding furniture designs. Then, as an illustrator and photographer, he was the recipient of an American Advertising Award. He was also a nominee for the Alliance for the Arts' 2004 Angels of the Arts Award and was presented with the Florida's Finest Award for exceptional achievement from the Governor of Florida. In addition, he received an Award of Excellence and became a finalist in Photographer's Forum magazine's annual spring photography contest.

Discovering Southwest Florida with Thomas Edison and Henry Ford
The Edison & Ford Winter Estates
Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and their families came to Southwest Florida more than a hundred years ago when Fort Myers boasted only a few hundred families. They established riverside neighboring estates, a botanical laboratory and research gardens from 1885 through the 1930s. They vacationed here, exploring Florida and enjoying the beaches, waterways, fishing, hunting and visits from their famous friends. The Discovering Southwest Florida with Thomas Edison and Henry Ford exhibit features a collection of historic photographs of Edison and Ford's favorite pastimes in Southwest Florida accompanied with contemporary photographs and artifacts from the estates' collection.