FSW

This week, six shows open, four close and seven continue their runs at Southwest Florida equity and community theaters.

The Florida SouthWestern State College theater department is performing seven 10-minute plays this weekend and next. The program is headlined by the world premiere of an homage to legendary artist Robert Rauschenberg, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday October 22.

Florida SouthWestern State College has been granted initial accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission, effective Thursday, Nov. 6.

This year would have marked the 100th anniversary of legendary artists Bob Rauschenberg. His foray into different mediums made him one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th Century.

At FSW, lies a hidden treasure: The Bob Rauschenberg Gallery. Currently on display is Rauschenberg 100: A Centennial Celebration of one of the most prolific artists of the 20th Century.

Determining an artist’s importance is normally problematic. Not with Robert Rauschenberg. So says Jade Dellinger with the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery in Fort Myers.“He was an artist’s artist,” Dellinger proclaimed. “Maybe people have heard or know more about Salvador Dalí or Andy Warhol in terms of name recognition, but Rauschenberg is one of those artists that really changed everything."

Florida Southwestern State College will launch the region's first teacher apprenticeship program this fall semester. The program allows local paraprofessionals to gain paid, hands-on experience in a classroom over a two-year period.

Over the years, the Florida SouthWestern State College theater program has turned out a legion of talented thespians thanks, in large measure, to the inventiveness of Theatre Professor Stuart Brown. Brown has the uncanny ability to force budding stage actors out of their own heads and into the minds of their characters. Case in point: Brown’s selection of Václav Havel’s dark comedy, “The Memo,” earlier this month.

During the week of April 7, 2025, ten shows open, six shows close and 15 others continue their runs at equity and community theaters from Marco Island to Sarasota.

Next year, Florida SouthWestern State College will undertake a $14.5 million renovation of its Humanities Building. For the ensuing 20 months, the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery will operate out of an annex in FSW's Rush Library building.