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Everyone loves a prize, and for good reason. It usually represents something you did that you were rewarded for. The Prize Exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) underwritten by local philanthropists Gail and Michael Winn is in its 10th year. One artist will receive $20,000 and another the People’s Choice Award of $2500. The show represents artists who live and work in Florida and are curated by the head curator at the museum, Coralie Claeysen-Gleyzon.
Carol Prusa’s “Dragon Veins” 2021-2024, Graphite, stainless steel, and titanium white pigment with acrylic binder on acrylic sphere with internal programmed light.
The show is a fabulous example of the tremendous talent in the Sunshine State. I am thrilled by this personally because I was born and raised in Miami and was an aspiring artist from a young age I visited one museum at the time which showed some important artists but not with their best work. It was unfortunate that the adults around me, including my teachers were not connected to an underground that was brewing in the area, and therefore I left to seek out other cities that were known for their art communities and galleries. Coming back to Florida in my 40s meant to me that I was leaving the art world and was resigned to a life without that energy. I was dead wrong.
Onajide Shabaka’s The Forest Spirit Jumps Up, 2022, Acrylic, Watercolor, Gold Leaf, Collage on Paper 40 x 45 in.
I later went to the prestigious Basil Art Fair in Miami and spoke with museum art curators and gallery directors who were not easily available in New York City. Some of my artist friends from New York and Los Angeles work was displayed and I realized then that Miami was not just a destination for sun and fun, but it had grown into an artistic community, worthy of a cultural experience.
Jason Seife’s Image of the Invisible 2024, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas 90 x 60 in.
The Florida Prize is exhibiting not only progressive artists from Miami but all over Florida. This state is rich in a multicultural experience. People from other countries have made it their home and the generations that followed have brought those unique cultures into their work. Hai Van Troung is from Orlando with a Chinese-Vietnamese heritage. Sheila Goloborotko draws inspiration from her ancestors’ migration from Belarus and Poland to Brazil, and then to the US, each time escaping racist and political unrest. Onajide Shabaka creates through the lens of African and Caribbean diasporic cultures. Yanira Collado’s influences are from the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean cultures. Njeri Kinuthia is from Kenya, Africa; Mona Bozorgi is from Iran; Bernadette Despujols incorporates memory and identity from her Venezuelan heritage in her paintings, Jason Seife examines the aftermath of societal cultural deterioration utilizing maps of the Middle East and Cuba. The artists Carol Prusa and Francesco Lo Castro’s artwork are less connected to specific cultural backgrounds but focus on design through a culture of science and new forms of artistic expression.
The curator educated me and other docents at the museum about these artists’ works so we may give tours to guests of OMA. She repeated the theme of explanation with the word practice. That could include morning walks, meditation, or repetitive mark-making.
Practice to me means a continuation to get to a completion which never really happens in the artist’s work. It is the work of life.
Connecting the idea of a prize and practice to real estate is not so farfetched. As I remember supporting first-time home buyers in their journey to homeownership, I am cognizant of the emotional roller coaster journey they are on. From the first notion that they want to purchase a home they begin seeing the myriads of online offerings, and then connecting with a realtor to help them to plan. First, they need to shore up their financials.
Lenders then come into play and the vision gets clearer. The search takes on more meaning as the buyers close in on the location and budget. Soon they have their ideal home in mind and search vigorously with the realtor. In a sense this is their practice When the home is identified and a contract falls into place, the realtor works the transaction taking the buyer through the steps to get their ultimate prize, Their new home!
Contact me, Vivian Kerstein, to help you with the practice of purchasing or selling. I am a realtor and artist. I know how to present your home to gain the maximum return and to purchase a home with excellent negotiating skills. My practice is communication and transparency, supporting you all the way. My prize is the excitement and happy faces of my clients: buyers and sellers. My five-star ratings support this Prize!
