Drawing on History

Quick Draw, the Broward Art Guild’s annual out-of-doors art competition, has moved its paints, brushes, and easels to historic Pompano Beach this year, and the city is hoping to prove that it’s as artistic a community as any of its neighbors. But you needn’t be a professional artist to participate; in fact, you needn’t be an artist at all (although it might help if you knew how to hold a brush and apply paint) to join in the fun, ’cause the city wants this to be a community event. It’s open to adults, both amateur and professional, and kids as well. In fact, kids under 18 are especially welcome, since one of the sponsors is organizer Simone Spade, who owns Studio Spade, a “fine art for kids” studio in downtown Pompano. The first 15 registrants will receive an art supply bag. The paint-in will take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. But you have only two hours, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., to actually fill your canvas. The first hour is for registration; the last is for competitors to frame their work and deliver it to ArtHall, the downtown gallery where the work will be on display until June 14. Registration is $25 at Founders Park (217 NE Fourth Ave., Pompano Beach), and you might consider using the park as your plein-air inspiration. There are two historic Kester cottages preserved in the park, and they make a pretty picture. William Kester was a Pompano Beach developer who built about 100 of the small cottages along the beachfront in the late ’20s and early ’30s during the Great Depression to create jobs and lure vacationers. There are only ten left today around SoFla; these two were moved to the park and given to the Historical Society to preserve. But you don’t have to confine yourself to the park. You can wander anywhere within the historic district between NE First and Fourth streets and NE First and Fifth avenues. And the subject needn’t be the urban landscape. As long as you paint it outside, you can dredge up some abstraction from your deepest psyche and it counts. Keep in mind that you have to bring your painting and framing materials with you. But the guild will help with the framing and even wire your frame up for you. The exhibition will be launched Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. with an opening reception at ArtHall (50 NE First St., Pompano Beach). During the evening, a silent auction will be held and cash awards in several categories will be given out by juror Julia Andrews of ArtServe. As an incentive for the art community to turn out, the grand prize will be a weeklong solo exhibition at the Broward Art Guild’s happening gallery in the North Beach Art District in Fort Lauderdale. Call the Broward Art Guild at 954-537-3370 or Simone Spade at 954-805-6784.
Sat., May 11, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Wed., May 15, 5:30-7:30 p.m., 2013