Floridian High Culture

Florida is not a naturally great place for an artist to do his or her work — the land is right, but the culture’s wrong — and that goes double as one moves away from the little pockets of civilization clinging to life along the coast. That is why the best thing about the 58th Annual All Florida Juried Exhibition is the tantalizing promise, proffered by its hosts at the Boca Museum, that the 48 presented artists come from all over the state. Presumably, that includes places like Mulberry and Yeehaw as well as the predictable St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Miami. What crazy emanations might leap from their minds onto the canvas, I’d pay good money to see. What do creative people do in Lake Wales, other than become homeless or freak out their neighbors? Now you can find out, as more than 60 paintings, sculptures, photos, and installations from across our deeply weird state take their places in Boca Raton.

The 58th Annual All Florida Juried Exhibition runs through August 30 at the Boca Museum of Art, located at 501 Plaza Real in Boca Raton. For more info, visit bocamuseum.org, or call 561-392-2500.
June 16-Aug. 30, 2009