Three new exhibits just opened at Boca Raton Museum of Art on the north end of Mizner Park. With high ceilings and large open gallery spaces, this is the place to go if you haven’t ventured out to indoor places yet. The museum’s open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Admission is $12 adults, $10 seniors, but PNC Bank is sponsoring free admission Feb. 6 and 7. https://bocamuseum.org/
The museum’s major exhibit “Glasstress Boca Raton 2021” showcases new works in glass. These mostly familiar objects were created by 34 artists invited to work with master glass artisans at the Berengo Studio on the island of Murano in the Venetian lagoon. Assembling this exhibit in Boca was three years in the making. Some objects are not yet on display, awaiting the artists’ passport approvals. But don’t be put off by the crates. There’s a video on view. And the two other new exhibits are well worth seeing.
Reading the wall cards in “An Irresistible Urge to Create” is just as important as the “Florida outsider art” itself. Images range from memories of a carefree life before the Russian Revolution to a visual ode to women’s changing roles. Self-trained and motivated artists range from a literature professor to a man who painted on pizza box tops.
Upstairs is an exhibit of artist and accomplished writer Paul Gervais’ new portraits of people he knows from photographs, interspersed with paintings of objects. Don’t miss a self-portrait of the artist himself…looking up.
Once the state allowed the museum to reopen, art lovers have expanded the demographics, executive director Irvin Lippman said at a press preview. “We get far more families and young people now,” he said.
If you’re a first-timer at this museum, don’t miss their breathtaking permanent collection upstairs. The museum benefits from all the major art collectors here. There’s free garage parking on the same stretch as the museum in front of the field next to the amphitheater.
By Marci Shatzman
