by Kathleen Moye

You’ve probably heard about Art Royale, but have you wondered what the excitement is all about? Art Royale is the signature fundraiser for the Alliance for the Arts, and there’s a committee of more than 20 members who work all year to pull it together. It’s different from the sit-down gala event where a formal meal is served and a show is presented. It’s more than a gallery reception where guests walk and look around. Art Royale is much more than a traditional event where you watch and see. At Art Royale, guests can come dressed casually or formally and are encouraged to become a part of the action!

Art Royale is a cutting edge creative event unlike any other in Southwest Florida. For the past four years, planners and committees have worked tirelessly to coordinate a huge scale event that involves and, at times, submerges guests into the arts. Every year, the theme changes, but the goal is the same—artists create a world full of imagination, excitement, color, music, and creativity, and they invite everyone to see as they do, that art is everywhere. Each guest leaves with their own impressions, but Art Royale strives to offer a deeper knowledge of the nature of art, artists, and how it all fits into the world around them. With impressions from previous years and tastes of what’s in store this time, read on and immerse yourself into the Art Royale Experience.

Driving up to the Alliance for the Arts campus, the stately and carefully manicured buildings, grounds, and sidewalks are full of color. Lights and images are projected on the walls, people dance around in costume. The excitement and sounds are tangible.

A valet service is available (artists want to give guests that welcome carefree feeling from the moment they set foot at the event), adding a special touch—even the registration area is brightly lit and staffed with a menagerie of friendly greeters.

Art is everywhere. Often this is a metaphor meaning that creativity can be found in all parts of life. Here, though, it’s a literal statement. Artists physically fill the space with projects, displays and performances—a sensory overload, in the best way imaginable.

So what to do first? A stop by the bar, where the wine flows freely? Or maybe priority number one is to sample the culinary delights at various food tents. Music is playing in several locations and artists stand at the ready to explain and involve passersby in their metamorphic creations. And more explorations still wait inside the gallery!

Performances will rotate every ten minutes or so. In one performance, guests will get to see another side of News-Press Tropicalia and WGCU columnist, Amy Bennett Williams, who is writing poetry for Metamorphosis. Flautist Kat Epple will accompany Amy as she reads aloud. ‘Metamorphosis: A Dance through the Centuries’ is a performance by Erad Productions, with renowned hip-hop choreographer Tracy Wildenhaus, musical producer Darrell Nutt and producer Eric Raddatz. The 7-minute piece blends dance styles through the ages, showing its progression and consistency. Eric explains, “So much has evolved through this century alone. Still so much of the raw basics have stayed the same. In our performance we have tried to capture the essence of both.” Author Ad Hudler is also on the line up.

Back outside, performers will be on the outdoor amphitheater stage, with even more shows to see. One show featured this year is a fusion of vocal music with dance to express the ever changing metamorphosis of civil rights and the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Three spiritual, choral pieces titled, “Ain’t Got Time to Die”, “MLK”, and “Jacob’s Ladder” will be sung by the Southwest Florida Symphony Chamber Chorus, directed by Joseph Caulkins and brought to life by “Together in Dance,” choreographed by Lori Madl. The music has been chosen for its meaning: the never ending determination of those dedicated to the civil rights movement, justice and righteousness, and the never ending climb we all face in the struggle.

Other performers to take the Art Royale 2006 mainstage include several bands: The Juice, The Bettie Page Boys, drummer Aiyb Dieng, and Heather Brooks & Funky Sea—not to mention exciting visual performances with fire-dancing and trapeze artists: Aerodynamix, Cirque Performance Troupe, and more! The whole night could easily be spent there, but there’s so much else going on at the same time.

Every year, art installations are set up throughout the campus. Each has its own environment or experience to share—and each is a chance to interact with artists and take part in the development of their projects throughout the evening.

Each spring the Alliance for the Arts puts out a call for art project proposals that fit the theme and includes an interactive element. This year’s theme is ‘Metamorphosis.’ Those chosen to create their ideas for the event include: Simeon Nikolov, Megan Kissinger, Al Shilling, Bryan Chaikin, Doug Heslop, Pat Collins, Bill Wright, Wendy and Steve Chase, Richard Castelli, Bob Jones, Seth Ford, Brett & Gina Hendershot, Gerard Damiano, Kellen Mills, Jennifer Riley, Tim Smith, Bill Knight, James DiGiorgio, Ken Johnson, and Scott Guelcher.

Gerard Damiano has two projects at Art Royale. The first will start days before the event. He calls it a ‘metamorphosis sculpture video’ that starts with a fabric and aluminum sculpture of a cocoon. Slowly, over the days leading up to Art Royale, the cocoon will start to unfold. Damiano promises that something unexpected will be revealed in the cocoon’s final emergence on Saturday night. The whole process will be captured on film and projected onto the fabric as part of the final phase.

Because audience interaction is a big part of this event and based on the idea that everyone at Art Royale has an inner artist, Damiano leads a second project that encourages all to participate. It fuses art, film, projections, and people into one constantly ‘metamorphosizing’ product. His committee will construct a ‘digital’ sandbox, and will invite guests to play in it. The sandbox will include a little sand and some ‘technologies.’ Damiano says he’s being intentionally vague about the contents of the box because he loves the element of discovery and surprise. “By allowing people to interact, we have no idea what will come of it.” The antics will be filmed and projected onto the Alliance for the Arts building as an impromptu movie of the night.

This year also marks the beginning of a brand new sculpture garden on the Alliance for the Arts campus. Every year, a new piece will be added. The first sculpture is called “You Are Here,“ by James DiGiorgio. The design is 40 feet long. At one end, a tube, turned on its side so that viewers can see through it, has four colorful rods crisscrossing through the center. Standing at the other end is a column with four holes. A bench in the center of the sculpture allows guests to sit and contemplate the sculpture. With the installation of this and future permanent sculptures, Art Royale planners want the Alliance for the Arts to become a destination where visitors can experience large scale art year round.

In another 2006 special addition, there will be a personal metamorphosis station where three local celebrities will be transformed by the artists of Red Salon & Spa. Francesca Dolan, writer and editor for the News-Press, Tammy Schrier of Gulf & Main magazine and County Judge Candidate Tara Pascotto Paluck will undergo new hairstyles, make up, costumes, and other wild designs throughout the night. Guests can watch the changes as they happen before their eyes!

And speaking of costumes—although not everyone dresses in one to attend the event—it is another fun element of the extravaganza, with some guests dressing according to the theme of the year by interpreting it somehow. Last year’s theme was ‘Take Flight’ and some people came as faeries, flight attendants, Superman and even Mary Poppins. With this year’s theme ‘Metamorphosis,’ guests are encouraged to use their imaginations.

In previous years, by the end of the night, there was still more to see and so much to do, impossible to get to it all. Certainly, though, with the energetic pace and high imagination of Art Royale, guests will not go home without a million magical memories.

Art Royale 2006 ‘Metamorphosis’ on November 18 will take guests on a journey, teaching something new, changing perceptions and ideas of what art means, and giving Southwest Floridians a chance to absorb an incredible evening of creativity, music, performance, food and excitement.

For more details, visit the Art Royale website at www.artroyale.com or call the Alliance for the Arts at 939-2787. •