ACCLAIMED ARTIST MYRA ROBERTS PRESENTS “DREAM PEACE” EXHIBITION OPENING THIS FEBRUARY

January 11, 2018 – Fort Myers, FL – Artistic powerhouse and provocateur Myra Roberts opens “Dream Peace” during Art Walk on February 2nd from 6pm – 10pm! Experience this eclectic exhibit, featuring  poster-style paintings of topics ranging from social injustice to Buddhism. “Dream Peace” will also feature performance art group S(he) Will Fade: A Theatrical Ethnography and a short improvisational dance by Debbie Sheme, the founder of Sanibel Dance. The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center is located at 2301 First St. in the historic downtown Fort Myers River District.
Opening: Friday, February 2nd • 6pm – 10pm
Performances by S(he) Will Fade and Debbie Sheme begin at 7:30pm
Closing: Friday, February 24th
Free to Attend
The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center is pleased to announce it is again hosting an exhibition of works by renowned Sanibel-based artist Myra Roberts. “Making meaningful social statements about our human condition is important to me, and links the past and present,” explains the artist. “Crimes against humanity continue daily. We are all diminished when any person suffers because of discrimination. Our differences make life more interesting and our common humanity matters most of all. ‘Dream Peace’ inspires viewers to ponder the need for change.”
In addition to her “Dream Peace” works, Roberts will exhibit selected pieces from recent series. “Florida Retro” paintings resurrect the Sunshine State’s past, and “Endangered Species” works draw attention to future concerns. “Smokescreen: Prelude to the 1940s” is a series of collages that depict American or German middle-class domestic life combined with images of Hitler’s rise to power. “Angels on Earth” celebrates extraordinary lives. Included is 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
Roberts’ paintings are in public and private collections across the United States and Europe, including the estate of Robert Rauschenberg. Roberts received letters of endorsement for her “Faces of Anne Frank” project from Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the Jane Goodall Institute. Roberts donates funds and works (slated for sale at auction) to organizations such as the following: Holocaust Museum & Education Center of Southwest Florida; the Ecostudies Institute of Mount Vernon, Washington; the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife; Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, and Sanibel-Captiva Cares/Golisano Children’s Hospital of Fort Myers.
The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center hosted a retrospective exhibition of her works in January 2015. WGCU Public Media chose Roberts as one of five “2016 Makers: Women Who Make Southwest Florida.” Nominated by the public, the selection of Roberts was based on her impact in the arts and social justice in Southwest Florida.
She has lectured and exhibited throughout the United States, including in Chicago; Boothbay Harbor and Bar Harbor, Maine; the Cab Calloway School of the Arts in Wilmington, Delaware (grant-funded); the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg; the Holocaust Museum & Education Center of Southwest Florida; the Museum of the Everglades, and in galleries around Florida.