$20 million art exhibit on display in Cape Coral

NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral

Blog sponsored by ArtbyDan.com 

CAPE CORAL, FL - $20 million in world renowned artwork is on display right here in Southwest Florida.  Picasso, Dali and Warhol - those are all names you can see in a new art exhibit in Cape Coral.

"It's probably the most financially valuable commercial exhibition that's taken place in Southwest Florida history in a fine art gallery," Modern to Pop and Beyond Exhibition curator Eric Ian Hornak Spoutz said.

The world renowned artwork now hangs at Gallery 928 in the Westin Cape Coral Resort. 

"We have very special security systems within the space here, not unlike what you would find in a museum," Spoutz said.

It's an exhibition of modern to pop art and beyond that showcases dozens of famous photographs and famous paintings. 

"This is the last photo shoot that was taken of John Lennon before he was assassinated," Spoutz said. "These are by Salvador Dali who's one of the founding surrealist artists." 

And it is all for show and for sale; with some of the most expensive pieces selling for upwards of $4 million.

"It's absolutely incredible to have a piece of history like this here," Spoutz said.

Exhibition creators say the big price tags will bring buyers from around the world to Southwest Florida. 

"People purchase it for social and political status. Or, of course in many cases, they purchase it because they just love it," Spoutz said.

The exhibit is free to see.  It starts Friday night at 6 p.m. and will run until January 2, 2015. 

Artfully done images of Japanese actors from the 1950's and 60's

Images with Tishiro Mifune and other actors from the 1950's

and 60's.

Subject: Samurai

CLICK HERE TO SEE GALLERY

Rino Gonzalez hand painted photo realism

"Classic Reds"

by 

Rino Gonzalez

This is a one of a kind original.

Click image above for more info about how to 

obtain original or limited edition works by this artist.

Local Deals From Amazon

Tishiro Mifune Art prints

Films that featured artists such as Tishiro Mifune and others, often had nice movie still created in
black and white. Click image to view larger.

Boston's Arts Community is a $1.4 Billion Economy Booster, According to a New Report

When you think 'Boston arts,' the big names come to mind, like a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts, or a night at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. But the vein of cultural influence runs much deeper than the obvious art institutions in the city. In fact, the 2014 Arts Factor report, culled by ArtsBoston and longtime partner and sponsor Bank of America, found that the arts in Boston is a $1.4 billion sector.

The first-time study, according to ArtsBoston's Catherine Peterson, proved just how powerful of a force Boston's art scene is in the city.

"[It] really shows what a powerful impact we have on the region, beyond what people do know already," said Peterson. "There's an incredible wealth of variety here in Boston, and it's letting people know that there's a rich, vibrant cultural community that they can take part in."

Peterson also echoed one of they key points made by the Arts Factor study: Boston boasts more arts and cultural organizations per capita than any other U.S. metro area, with 50 organizations for every 100,000 residents. This intensive community pumps $1 billion worth of direct spending into the community through admissions, with an addition $450 million dollars coming from revenue earned outside of admissions.

Bank of America's Bob Gallery said that from a business standpoint, the arts not only draws people from other industries and students in, it keeps them in the region. Peterson added that the number of jobs that the arts brings to the city aren't going anywhere, either.

The arts sector adds 26,000 jobs to the Boston economy, and according to Peterson, "those jobs aren't going to be outsourced."

To put some of the numbers that the Arts Factor found during research into perspective, the report found that enough people visit Boston's art institutions to sell out Fenway Park 488 times, meaning 18.3 million attendees per year are utilizing the city's art and culture resources. Meanwhile, and speaking of sports, 4.5 times more people visited art and culture institutions than Boston's sports teams – the Celtics, Patriots, Bruins and Red Sox – put together: 4.5 million sports attendees versus the 18.5 million art attendees.

And contrary to popular belief, engaging in the arts doesn't have to be expensive. According to the data, 40 percent of people who visited for free. According to Peterson, the median cost of admission throughout 2013 was $16 due to the number of free events, made possible by partnerships with companies like Bank of America, which, according to Gallery, "realize the public good, the economic impact and the public good of supporting arts and culture."

To learn more about the Arts Factor report, and some of the stats they discovered, check out the infographic below, and visit ArtsBoston to download the complete report.