Boca Raton is getting its own Art Fair Week, courtesy of art fair producers David and Lee Ann Lester, founders of Next Level Fairs, which produces Art Palm Beach and SeaFair. The inaugural Art Boca Raton art fair will take place March 18 – 21, 2016 and feature 45 art dealers selected by a curatorial committee. A full slate of off-site and on-site programming has been planned to turn a single art fair into a celebration of art in Boca Raton and the surrounding communities.
To get things started, an Exclusive Preview for Art Boca Raton takes place March 17, 2016 from 6 to 10 p.m. and benefits the Boca Raton Museum & Art School. Tickets are $150 – $250. For details, click here. At the fair's Vernissage, Elaine Baker, co-owner of Baker Sponder Gallery, will be presented with the Visionary Award. She joins past Visionary Award recipients Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Tom Wesselmann, Nam June Paik and others.
"We honor artists and art professionals who demonstrate significant accomplishments in their field, pioneering new ideas, art forms and community-wide programs that foster cultural awareness, said Lee Ann Lester. "Elaine has been a vibrant presence in the Florida art world and internationally for more than five decades. Her vision and dedication is an example to all."
Art Boca Raton will offer an intimate mix of Florida, national and international galleries. South Florida galleries include Vertu Fine Art (Boca Raton), Baker Sponder Gallery (Boca Raton), Latin Art Core (Miami), AW Massey Fine Art (Ft Lauderdale), Mark Borgi Fine Art (Palm Beach, Bridgehampton and NYC) and others. New York galleries also include Casterline Goodman Gallery (East Hampton, Aspen) and Castle Fitzjohns Gallery (New York City).
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Art Boca Raton. Photo: Joshua Burcham (IFAE).
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Art Boca Raton is creating waves by the expansion of transforming a single art fair event into an ambition Art Boca Raton Art Week that includes off-site events and on-site ones. Many of the art fair-based events are set in a 65,000 square foot exhibition hall with an entrance that features Keith Haring's 4o-foot mural Pop Shop Mural (1986) presented by Castle Fitzjohn Gallery. Off-site events take place in various locations in Boca Raton and Lake Worth.
Programming for Art Boca Raton Art Week includes lectures, panel discussions, demonstrations, local artist spotlights and more. Click here for details.
Highlights include:
Art After Dark at the Boca Raton Museum of Art (March 18 - 21, 2016). The mix and mingle event allows a social atmopshere to enjoy the museum. On view is "Warhol3X". Friday night's event features a special reception for visiting artist Alexi Torres, represented by Evan Lurie Gallery. Saturday night's event features visiting artists Tim Tate (represented by Habatat Galleries) and Rubem Roberb (represented by Gary Lichtenstein Editions). Click here for details.
"Conceptual Art in the 21st Century" by Milagros Bello, Ph.D. The lecture will examine works by Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and others (Monday, March 21, 2016 at 2 p.m.). Click here for details. The Art Forum Section is presenting a full schedule of compelling talks. Click here for the schedule of events taking place from Friday to Monday.
Curatorial Tours by W. Rod Faulds of two exhibitions featuring site-specific works by Miami artists Brookhart Jonquil and Kerry Phillips in "Jay Critchley, Incorporated" and public art project at the University Galleries at FAU. Held Friday and Saturday (March 18 - 19, 2016) from 1 to 6 p.m. The tours are led by W. Rod Faulds, director of the University Galleries at FAU. He has held positions at the Guggenheim Museum, the Brooklyn Museum and Williams College Museum of Art. Click here for details.
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BASIC FACTS: Art Boca Raton 2016 takes place from March 18 to 21, 2016. Tickets are $20 for a one-day pass and $25 for a multi-day pass. The fair is located on the grounds of Florida Atlantic University Research Park, 3450 NW 8th Avenue, Boca Raton, FL 33431.
An Exclusive Preview takes place on March 17, 2016 and benefits the Boca Raton Museum & Art School. Click here for information.
Visit www.artbocaraton.com for scheduling, exhibitors and more.
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