Submitted by Kay Renz, Public Relations
It’s time for the grand finale of the 2023-2024 Old Town Untapped season in Pompano Beach! Join us for a festive evening of rock, reggae, and surfing tunes by Pompano Beach’s up-and coming trio The Barefoot Mailmen, who are making their OTU debut. Explore the last exhibition of this semester’s Artists in Residence at Bailey Contemporary Arts Center. And enjoy local art vendors, DJ music, and an array of culinary delights from the area’s bests food trucks. See you Friday, June 7, 2024 from 6-10 pm for the last block party until October. Learn more at www.pompanobeacharts.org.
BaCA AiR Group Exhibition: Fields of Vision: the imaginative power of artists after 270 days
From October to June, the historic Bailey Contemporary Arts Center (BaCA) pulsates with creative energy thanks to its electrifying Artists in Residence (AiR) Program. Now, as we reach the culmination of this semester, the artists have created their final group exhibition, which will showcase a vibrant tapestry of creative forces. Fields of Vision will debut at Old Town Untapped and will run through June 30th.
During the AiRs program, each artist worked on a specific residency project, which will be showcased in the exhibition. In addition to the artwork on display, AiR T.M. Pride will present excerpts from one of his dance performances.
“Our artists in residence haven’t just created incredible art, they’ve woven themselves into the fabric of this community,” said Ty Tabing, Cultural Affairs Director. “Witnessing the creativity and energy of our artists has been a true privilege, and I look forward to watching their continued success.”
This year’s class includes Michele Del Campo, Alejandra Abad, Renee Rey, Walter O’Neill, T.M. Pride, Djerlens Chery, Oscar Montoya, and Louiveste La Croix. Over the past eight months, they’ve honed their craft, collaborated, and ignited a spark within the South Florida arts community. During the past year, each artist was highlighted as an Artist of the Month and was provided with their own exhibition/presentation and opportunities to interact with art lovers through workshops, performances, and classes. In addition, the artists have also benefited from an array of marketing and business skills workshops to enhance their career paths.
Enhancing Pompano Beach Arts as a cultural incubator, a recent $50,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Broward was awarded to leverage the AiR program, providing stipends to the artists to create artworks that enhance Pompano Beach, while further developing their own artistic skills. This grant is being utilized over two class terms, with this class having participated in Jazz Fest Pompano Beach with headliner Grammy® Award-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis. AiRs live painted, live muraled, created a live installation, and even delivered a powerful dance performance in front of 10,000 people in attendance. While the official t-shirt of this year’s Jazz Fest included artwork from AiR Michele del Campo.
This year’s AiRs also received some prestigious accolades. Djerlens Chery, Oscar Montoya, Louiveste La Croix and Walter O’Neill each received a Broward Cultural Division Artists Support Grant. Michele del Campo received a Broward Cultural Division Artists Innovation Grant for $10,000, and Alejandra Abad received the Broward Cultural Division Regional Artists Support Grant.
Live Music: The Barefoot Mailmen
The Barefoot Mailmen are a multi-instrumental group of friends who are gaining an ardent fan base in South Florida thanks to their crowd-pleasing sound. The trio includes Robby Peterson on guitar, Dave Havens on drums, and Alex Joyel on bass, and they describe their music as anything you could hear or play at the beach–a blend of classic rock, reggae, and surf rock, with a sprinkle of blues and country. Their repertoire includes songs from legendary artists including Steve Miller, Van Morrison, Bob Marley, Sublime, Jimmy Buffett, Slightly Stoopid, and original songs of their own such as their local hit “Titi’s Surf Rock.”
About the City of Pompano Beach Cultural Affairs Department
The mission of the Cultural Affairs Department 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 Artist in Residence (AiR) initiative.
