POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Aug. 14, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Pompano Beach Arts is excited to announce the new Artists in Residence (AiR) class at Bailey Contemporary Arts Center (BaCA). This dynamic initiative offers a unique opportunity for creative exploration, collaboration, and growth within South Florida’s vibrant arts community. Each season, new artists are selected through a competitive process. This year’s class features artists with an expansive array of creative techniques and influences. During this semester, the artists will be showcased through dedicated exhibitions and major events including Jazz Fest Pompano Beach 2025, while also interacting with the community through art workshops.

Pompano Beach Arts Introduces 2024/2025 Artists in Residence Class
Image caption: Pompano Beach Arts Introduces 2024/2025 Artists in Residence Class.

To learn more about the artists and their upcoming event and class schedule please visit https://www.pompanobeacharts.org/bailey/artists-in-residence.

“We are honored to welcome such a remarkably talented and diverse group of artists,” said Ty Tabing, Director of the Pompano Beach Cultural Affairs Department, operating as Pompano Beach Arts. “BaCA has become an extraordinary incubator for our AiRs, providing dedicated studio space to expand creativity, while also empowering entrepreneurial growth through marketing and business classes. We are also very proud of the array of opportunities we have been able to provide to our artists including participation at Jazz Fest, creating signature murals for the City, and introducing them to grant opportunities.”

ABOUT THE 2024/2025 ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE:

Alyssa Book

Alyssa Book is a Cuban American fiber artist who uses rug tufting techniques to create one-of-a-kind, tactile works of art. Based in South Florida, Book’s vibrant style uses bold lines and bright colors to evoke a sense of childlike wonder.

After a challenging experience with postpartum depression, Book turned to her craft as a source of solace and healing. Inspired by the Woodstock era and the inherent restorative power of color, she creates yarn art that sparks joy and inner peace. Her works have been exhibited at galleries throughout South Florida’s Tri-County area.

Angelica Clyman

Broward County’s dramatic transformation serves as a wellspring of inspiration for artist Angelica Clyman. Growing up amidst these changes, her artistic focus centers on forgotten spaces and their bygone eras, utilizing a variety of mediums to explore the life cycles of these ordinary places. Her creative process involves visiting abandoned sites and collecting remnants, which she transforms into paintings, sculptures, and prints. These artworks act as narratives, preserving memories and giving voice to the past.

Clyman’s artistic journey is marked by solo exhibitions and featured works in the Miami Children’s Museum permanent collection. An alumna of New World School of the Arts and Florida International University, she currently shares her artistic knowledge as a studio art instructor at Broward College and serves as the director of the Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery.

Constance Ivana

With a lifelong passion for art and a mission to expand artistic access, Constance Ivana uses her creative voice to tackle issues of social justice and Black history, primarily through vibrant works in spray paint and acrylics. Currently an artist-in-residence at History Fort Lauderdale, her pieces are often imbued with messages of hope and encouragement.

A retired Broward County educator with 21 years of teaching experience, she transitioned to HR recruiting. Constance is a regular volunteer with the City of Fort Lauderdale and has fostered collaborations with a wide range of organizations, including the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, Art Prevails, Art 13, Art n Soul, Heal the Planet, numerous schools, independent artists, and various nonprofits. Beyond selling her artwork, Constance actively engages the community by hosting painting parties and workshops and creating impactful murals.

Florencia Clement de Grandprey

Florencia Clement de Grandprey is a self-taught mixed-media figurative artist. Originally from Spain, her mission is to empower and inspire through positive and meaningful artwork. Painting full-time since 2014, she initially used canvas, incorporating discontinued fabric and paper samples to create backgrounds and “dress” her subjects. Eventually, discovering she could paint directly on upholstery fabric and area rugs, she fell in love with this new medium. Through her artwork, she celebrates our uniqueness and imperfections, highlighting our strengths and beauty.

Lauren Georgia

Lauren Georgia is a digital artist and educator who creates immersive installations that blend reflective surfaces, light, and shadows into unique experiences. These environments focus on transformation, offering participants opportunities to confront their own reflections and perceptions of identity and self. Balancing deeper questions with a playful approach, Georgia incorporates bright colors and patterns into her work and has exhibited in both group and solo shows throughout Florida.

Raised in Pompano Beach, Florida, Georgia graduated from the University of Florida with Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Art Education and Digital Media. As an educator, she most recently taught digital art and design portfolio development at Dillard High School.

Mark Viau

Mark Viau is a multimedia artist with a strong foundation in classical fine art techniques. His creations are known for their rich layers of color and captivating depth. He invites viewers into a world brimming with life, where traditional methods meet contemporary innovation.

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Viau attended Wayne State University on a fine arts scholarship. The COVID-19 pandemic rekindled his passion for art, inspiring him to channel his experiences into a vibrant and expressive body of work. As the father of triplets, Mark’s life journey has been both dynamic and enriched by the joys of parenthood.

ALIGUORI

Nino Liguori has always enjoyed telling stories through his paintings, which are visual parables and allegories. His work alludes to art history, design, innovation, and humanity itself, intertwining fable and fact, imagination and realism. An art educator, he has worked with diverse socio-economic and racial groups in Broward County and was twice a finalist for Visual Arts Educator of the Year.

Liguori advanced his painting studies by obtaining a master’s degree in Europe and Asia. He studied at The Academie de Beaux Arts in Paris, collaborated with art collectives in Rome, and learned brush and breathing techniques in East Asia. His artwork has been featured in New York Magazine and Hi-Fructose Magazine. Honoring both his Italian heritage and the storytelling nature of his work, he signs his paintings “ALIGUORI.”

Symphonii Smith-Kennedy

Symphonii Smith-Kennedy fostered her artistic exploration in painting and self-discovery during her education at New World School of the Arts and through her art studio with Zero Empty Spaces. She utilizes art to explore her identity as a Black queer woman in today’s world, drawing on her experiences, imagination, and fascination with fantasy to influence her work.

Primarily an oil painter, she also uses other mediums to create sequential narratives influenced by Afro-centric culture and fantasy. While painting is her main focus, Smith-Kennedy’s aspirations bridge the gap between fine art, illustration, and entrepreneurship.

Learn more: https://www.pompanobeacharts.org/bailey/artists-in-residence

About the City of Pompano Beach Cultural Affairs Department:

The mission of the Cultural Affairs Department, operating as Pompano Beach Arts, is to provide cultural programming that includes visual arts, digital media, music, film, theater, dance, and public art for the enjoyment and enrichment of residents and visitors to Pompano Beach, Broward County, and the greater South Florida area. The department programs and manages the City’s premiere cultural arts venues, including the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, Ali Cultural Arts Center, Bailey Contemporary Arts Center, and the Blanche Ely House Museum. The department also oversees the City’s Public Art Program and the Artists in Residence (AiR) initiative.

News Source: Pompano Beach Arts