Art in the Garden celebrates anniversary

One rainy night last November, the first Art in the Garden, a showcase of Southwest Florida artists at Naples Botanical Garden, was held indoors. The area outside consisted of the muddy remnants of an uprooted parking lot.

Now, a display garden -- complete with a maidenhair fern grotto and exotic plants with such names as kahili ginger and blue quandong -- occupies the same area.

And on Sunday, a sunny, breezy 80-degree day, the area was the site of the second annual Art in the Garden. Madeline Quigley, spokeswoman for Naples Botanical Garden, estimated that 800 to 1,000 people strolled through the garden Sunday, the second and final day of the showcase, to view and buy the works of 11 local artists. More than 300 attended on Saturday, Quigley said.

Artists Debra Stone, Jessica Smith-Geraghty and Perry Thompson organized the event as a way for rising local artists to show their work in what Stone called a "gorgeous" atmosphere. The 11 artists displayed acrylic, oil, glass and mixed-media pieces, as well as jewelry, photographs and sculptures.

"As an artist, you create so you can at least share it or get it out there," Stone said. "This is one way of doing that. ... We love galleries and we've done showings with some local galleries, but it's easier for artists to come together in something like this to show their work -- and to sell it also, which is why we do what we do."

Photographer Chris Wilson, one of five artists to participate in the first Art in the Garden last year, said the large turnout Sunday didn't surprise him.

"I'm sure weather has a lot to do with it, but Naples has a lot of people who enjoy art, and we've got a lot of good art to show," Wilson said. "You don't always have to go to galleries to see fine art."

The event proved that young artists in Southwest Florida "don't have to be world-famous to have good work and show people what it's all about," Wilson said.

Naples artist Genene Nell, whose paintings of Hawaii and Hawaiian culture carried titles including "Volcano Road," "Kaiulani" and "Madam Pele" -- the Hawaiian volcano goddess -- was participating in her first art show. Though she was "terrified" when the show started, Nell said, she gained confidence when people responded well to her work.

"I was nervous how to explain my art," said Nell, who lived in Hawaii from age 3 to 26 and moved to Naples in 1987. "But it went rather well. A lot of people loved it. I'm very happy."

Artists said they were pleased with the weather, except for the occasional gust of wind that toppled paintings to the grass.

Other artists showing work over the two days were Tiite Baquero, Erik Barton, Regis Bobitski, Tony Cianciotto, Jennifer Deane and Jacquelyn Fox.

Artists were asked to donate 15 percent of their sales to Naples Botanical Garden, Stone said.

Anne Rudolph, a former registered nurse from Naples, said she attended the event not only to see art, but also to see the garden for the first time.

"It's kind of dual, so that made it a little more fun," Rudolph said. "I can only stay about 45 minutes, but I didn't want to miss it. Look how beautiful this is."