Nokomis Art & Art Galleries
The Art of Appreciation*
Art has the power to transform, to illuminate, to educate, inspire and motivate.
-Harvey Fierstein
Everything is art. It’s in design. In colors. In shapes. In symbols. In textures. In materials. There is nothing without art. Nothing without design. But so often we don’t notice that art is all around us. In nature. In man-made structures.
Art can be long lasting: Automobiles. Buildings. Bridges. Highways.
Art can be fleeting: Like foam on the top of a cafe latte. Or clouds floating eastward.
In Nokomis, we are blessed with amazing art and genius artists and their wonderful creations. Their art surrounds us, lifts us, and affects us.
*This is the first of many posts featuring some of the artists, galleries, and public art to be found in the community of Nokomis.
Judi Light + Artist-Author + Owner + The Cottage Art Gallery
The heart of the Nokomis artist community is The Cottage Art Gallery at 106 Pocono Trail E. off Route 41, managed by artist-author Judi Light. The gallery is located behind the Evergreen Cafe on Rt. 41 and adjacent to Rum Runner Antiques.
The Cottage Art Gallery
What began as a cooperative in 2013, soon evolved into a stand alone gallery, now featuring 21 of the best art talents in the greater Nokomis area. Judi Light is dedicated to creating her art and writing illustrated books. She is also inspired to promote other artists and encourage their work.
To that end, for the past ten years Judi and her Cottage Art Gallery have hosted a Nokomis Art and Craft Market on the 3rd Saturday of each month, October through March. Artists and crafters can rent a space on her expansive grounds around the cottage to sell their artworks to the general public. It’s a fun time with lots of variety. It’s an opportunity for the public to interact with working artists and for artists to learn and be inspired by other artists. The monthly event features a variety of paintings, pottery, drawings, jewelry, antiques, crafts, music, refreshments, and fun.
The next Nokomis Art & Craft Market happens on Saturday, December 21st.
The market is located on the grounds of The Cottage Art Gallery at 106 Pocono Trail E., Nokomis. Admission is free. Hours are 9:30 am - 3:00 pm.
Public Art
Art in Nokomis is not confined to art galleries. Paint, metal tubing, found objects, and imagination are just some of the tools artists employ to enhance the community landscape with their creations. Artist and ceramatist David Hammel works in steel, found objects, and ceramics. His welcoming robots greet visitors outside the galleries at Boulevard Fine Art, an art gallery and custom framing shop at 110 Colonia Lane in Nokomis. Many of his other beautiful works are displayed inside the gallery.
Nokomis Beach Talks Begin Friday, January 3rd, 2025
Capt. Joe Cellamare kicks off the second year of the Nokomis Beach Talks series at 9:00 am on Friday, January 3rd at the Nokomis Beach Pavilion on Casey Key with a master class in Winter Sportfishing on the Gulf. His two workshops last season were jammed with fishing enthusiasts and a lot of younger first-time anglers.
Crowd of fishermen and women at Capt. Joe Cellamare’s Workshop (1/5/2024)
Capt. Joe brings a wealth of experience as a charter boat captain and the owner of Fish Tales Bait & Tackle in Nokomis. He’ll share expert tips, techniques, gear and reveal the best spots to catch winter fish species in the Gulf of Mexico.
Capt. Joe Cellamare answers fishing questions at North Jetty Park, January 5, 2024.
This free one-hour workshop will be held under the Nokomis Beach Pavilion (100 Casey Key Road, Nokomis, FL), rain or shine. It is open to the general public. Please bring your own chair as seats are limited. No pre-registration is necessary. Attendees are encouraged to dress appropriately for the weather. Parking is free and adjacent to the Beach Pavilion.
Nokomis Beach Talks are sponsored by the Nokomis Institute, a non-profit educational organization. For additional information, see updates posted at www.facebook.com/Nokomis2021.
Or call event coordinator, Ken Proudfoot at (401) 662-5909.
What I’m Reading This Week
This has been a week that offered some electic choices from the living room coffee table piled with books old and new, trade and consumer magazines, and newspapers from around the country. Every one offers an adventure for learning and inspiration. A couple books of serious note for all who love southwest Florida are noted below.
How to Read a Florida Gulf Coast Beach, A Guide to Shadow Dunes, Ghost Forests, and Other Telltale Clues from an Ever-Changing Coast (The University of North Caroline Press, 2012), by Tonya Clayton. This is a helpful resource and continuing reference for anyone living along the Gulf coast. It makes you see what you have been looking at come alive and gives you a depth of understanding you never had before. Accompanied by a hundred photos, the author, a science writer, gives us the names of the activities, formations and physical features of our beaches and the Gulf coast. She explains what is happening there and why. The Gulf coast is a key part of our Nokomis community. This book reveals what we should see and understand in order to better appreciate the continuous changes happening on our shoreline.
John Nolen, Landscape Architect and City Planner (University of Massachusetts Press, 2015), by R. Bruce Stephenson, was and is the much-needed biography of the most influential American town and city planner in the early part of the 20th century. Nolen, planner and designer of the city of Venice, Florida, created a firm that worked on some 400 projects and completed plans for more than 25 cities around the country. Educated at Harvard University, his vision for family friendly and orderly communities set the standard for the design of the thousands of cities and towns that followed his bold lead. Nolen’s ground-breaking work in designing the city plan for Venice with its Mediterranean Revival architecture, gently curving streets, public parks in every neighborhood, and a beachfront park and casino fronting on the Gulf of Mexico continue to inspire residents and visitors. In addition to Nolen’s work in Florida, this biography delves into his education, early work as a landscape architect, and his rise to become a national and interational leader in the fields of city and town planning. Nolen’s continuing impact can also be seen in several exhibits at the Venice Historical Society Museum in Venice, Florida.
Nokomis History Questions & Comments
Do you have some history or additional facts to add to any of the stories in these newsletters? Your knowledge, stories, and vignettes are most welcome.
Do you have questions about the history of our Nokomis community? Please send them in and I’ll try to address your queries. It will lead us all to more learning.
Please email me anytime at: kennethproudfoot@hotmail.com.
Many thanks for your participation as a reader and thanks for sharing your feedback and suggestions to make this newsletter and the upcoming book, NOKOMIS NOW AND THEN, more accurate and complete, and more interesting. TY.