An exhibit  is now open at the Florida Gulf Coast University ArtLab featuring the only known Jewish partisan to document their wartime experiences on film. 

“Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photos of Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman” is a rare collection of images that captures the camaraderie, horror and loss, bravery and triumph of the partisans who fought the Nazis.  READ MORE

Olympic gold medalist and record-breaking track and field star, Bob Beamon, is the new chief executive officer for the Art of the Olympians Museum and Gallery in Fort Myers.

Beamon is best known for his world record in the long jump at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, which remained unchallenged for 23 years. He has since been elected into the USA Track & Field and U.S. Olympic hall of fames. Beamon made Olympic history jumping 29 feet 2 1/2 inches, beating the previous record by nearly 2 feet and becoming the first man to jump more than 28 feet in the long jump. In a BBC interview at WGCU he said he felt like he was flying, “I don’t even want to come down. As a matter of fact I’m still up there right now as we speak. I just feel so wonderful about the accomplishments but I take my accomplishments very seriously in promoting the great vision that one needs to have in order to have an accomplishment of that magnitude.”

In 1999, he co-authored a book about his life titled “The Man Who Could Fly.”  Beamon previously served as director of athletic development at Florida Atlantic University and most recently was associate athletic director at Chicago State University. 

Sanibel poet Joe Pacheco offers this holiday reflection on the economy:

The Night Before Christmas, 2010

Tis the night before Christmas in Florida’s Southwest,
Not a bank that survived will lend or invest.
The stores are all open till the stroke of midnight —
In hopes a late shopper will come into sight.

Portfolios still hang with their stocks stripped bare
While Republicans dream of repealing health care.
The home equity we tapped has completely run dry,
But the rich keep getting a bigger slice of the pie.

Like rats returning to a sinking ship,
They’ve auctioned the condos we once planned to flip.
Tis the night before Christmas in our “underwater” house,
Not a crumb left over for even a mouse,

We’re dining on food stamps this Christmas night
In our remodeled kitchen, our Euro delight ---
The extension we added to help entertain
Still cluttered with posters from Obama’s campaign.

I’ve cut down on Viagra as has Mom on Botox
We’ve sent back to Comcast our new cable box.
That cruise round the world seems far off tonight
As we lie down in darkness to save on the light,

Waiting like children for the clatter and click
Of someone downstairs who might be Saint Nick.


Joe Pacheco

The most decorated American gymnast in history, comes to Fort Myers Friday to open the newest exhibit at The Art of the Olympians. It’s called A Taste of Gymnastics and it includes a historic, modern and cultural look at the sport of gymnastics through uniforms, equipment and Olympic memorabilia. Special guest - seven-time Olympic medalist and nine-time World medalist - Shannon Miller speaks at an opening reception between 5 and 8pm. The exhibit will be on display at the Art of the Olympians in Fort Myers until October 16. WGCU’s Amy Tardif spoke with Shannon Miller. She asked what it was like growing up as an Olympic gymnast.

Object

Writer and poet Joe Pacheco was recently featured on Latino USA for his poem "Skipping Arizona" which he wrote as a reflection on the passing of Arizona's SB-1070 into law.

The life and work of artist Guy LaBree is featured in a new book by Carol Mahler.  Mahler is a professional storyteller, poet, teacher, and musician as well as a writer.  She told WGCU’s Valerie Alker that she met Guy LaBree – the Barefoot Artist of the Florida Seminoles - at a musical gathering in Punta Gorda several years ago…and is now bringing his work to a larger audience.

Southwest Florida Romance Writers are holding book signing Saturday at the Alliance for the Arts in Ft. Myers.  A number of well known published fiction writers will be there – including Linda Bilodeau, Jamie Rush and Lynnette Hallberg.  Hallberg, whose most recent book is titled “Moonlight, Motorcycles and Bad Boys” told WGCU’s Valerie Alker that the heart of a romance novel is two people finding each other and living happily ever after.

Pop artist Peter Max returns to Southwest Florida this weekend.   He’ll be at the Olde Florida Gallerie at the Bell Tower in Ft. Myers Friday evening and Saturday afternoon – and in Naples at the Road Show Company Saturday evening.  First known for his “Cosmic” images in the 1960s and later for iconic paintings of the statue of liberty and American Flag – his work continues to evolve. These days he’s painting portraits of artists  breathing new life into images of Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Matisse, Guagine – and a host of others.