Inside Wasmer Art Gallery, located within the Arts Complex, students, faculty and community members can experience the “Note to Self” exhibit. The opening reception took place Oct. 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. with the featured artists in attendance.
Featured artists include Briena Harmening, Quinn Miller and Caitlin Rosolen. Along with these three, Paul Firmin was highlighted for his public art project, a mural named “Heart and Soul,” which can be found outside the north end of the Arts Complex until October 2025.
This annual event showcases alumni who continue to practice fine art. “Note to Self” was sponsored by the FGCU Alumni Association, Gene and Lee Siedler, the Wasmer Endowment and WGCU Public Media.
Gallery Director John Loscuito started the event by speaking, followed by Assistant Curator Anica Sturdivant. Each of the artists was introduced and given the opportunity to speak about their pieces. Throughout the evening, the artists answered questions and engaged with audience members.
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A food truck, Viet Yum, was stationed outside the building. Attendees were given tickets to use at the food truck for a complimentary meal. Within the Arts Complex courtyard, the FGCU Jazz Combo played live music. The gallery was provided with a printing plate, carved by the artist. The gallery staff then used a mini printing press to make free prints that guests could take home.
Harmening is a text-based artist, residing in Nashville, Tennessee who incorporates painting, screen-printing and fibers into her work. She currently teaches art at James Lawson High School in addition to practicing fine art.
Many of her pieces featured in “Note to Self” incorporate a variety of materials such as vintage quilts and crocheted blankets. One piece featured vinyl plastic from a pool float, another was a quilt made out of material that was originally an air mattress. She screen-prints phrases onto textiles. For this show the meaning behind her art is reflective of growing up in a rural town and the lack of belonging she felt.
“I thought about art when I was younger, as a therapy because of what I’d gone through in high school, and I saw that as like a way for me to work through my problems,” said Harmening. “I do think it helped me.”
Miller is a fine art photographer whose focus is surrealism. He practices art full-time while teaching high school digital arts in South Florida. Miller spoke about one of his digital photographs “Defiant” and his mental health journey behind his work.
“No matter how many times you get knocked down by waves, trust me it’ll happen a lot. You have to be defiant, otherwise you’ll drown,” said Miller.
Rosolen practices art in Southwest Florida and also works as the art collections manager for FGCU. She works with various mediums such as large-scale abstract acrylic paintings, photography and mixed media. Her focus is on moments. She conveys the transient aspect of time through abstraction.
Callie Grindstaff, an FGCU Digital Media Design student, chose to come to the show because she heard that Harmening was an artist from the Appalachia region. Like Harmening, Grindstaff is from Appalachia as well.
“A lot of the sayings on there remind me of growing up at home,” said Grindstaff.
Since she is an art student herself, Grindstaff tries to attend the showcases on campus often to gain inspiration.
“It’s nice to be able to have a place on campus that, like, I potentially could put stuff into. You know, I like to be more comfortable in it, in the gallery, in case I have a showcase,” said Grindstaff.
Sturdivant is the assistant curator for the FGCU Art Department and has worked at FGCU for over 20 years. She is responsible for choosing the artists who are showcased in “Note to Self.” Sturdivant follows the alumni artists on social media and reaches out to artists who are still developing and practicing art to organize a show.
“It kind of happens organically, then you start talking to the artists and say here’s the confidence,” said Sturdivant.
The exhibit will be available for the community to view until Nov. 21. The Wasmer Art Gallery is open to the public Monday – Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.