Gulfport may not have the number of galleries it did 15 years ago – something decried by the artists who once called Beach Boulevard their stomping ground — but the few galleries popping up in the Historic Waterfront District are attracting some impressive local talent.
No better example than & Gallery — no, that's not a typo; the ampersand is the venue's name — where longtime arts aficionado and gallery manager Mik McCue has endeavored to keep the Gulfport arts scene vibrant the past two years.
& Gallery has local metalsmith Eric Folsom, who uses metals like bronze and copper to express himself, and the nature of Gulfport (check out his gecko ladle in the photo above, right).
The gallery also boasts the work of Florida native Daniel "Abraham" Flores. Flores draws from Florida's aquatic and avian frontiers to create carvings so smoothly created people mistake them for ceramic work.
Meet both Folsom and Flores at the Third Saturday Gallery Walk in Gulfport on Nov. 15, 6-10 p.m., at & Gallery, 3129 Beach Blvd. Both artists will be available for one-on-one discussions about their technique and work. & Gallery will also serve wine and hors d'oeuvres and host saxophonist Henry Ashwood, who will play jazz throughout the evening.
Folsom, a Gulfport native who looks a bit like Monty Python's Eric Idle, honed his skill first with what he calls "self-education" and next with an apprenticeship in brazing and fabricating bronze and copper. He has exhibited his work, which includes both functional beauty like serveware, and ones in which beauty is the only function, up and down the East Coast.
Flores has an artistic fascination with nature. "His encounters with sun, sand, fish, birds and other animals inspire much of the subject matter for his art," Daniel Hodge, a Gulfport Merchants Association board member, says. Flores also draws heavily on sea legends in his works that incorporate mermaids. He carves or sculpts his pieces into reclaimed wood, although, Hodge says, others have mistaken Flores' work for ceramics.
The reception takes place during Gulfport's Third Saturday Gallery Walk, so downtown parking will be at a premium. Gulfport's distinctive red and green trolley will be running to remote parking lots; the city does not charge riders for this service. Park at the library or Catherine Hickman theatre, both just north of 28th Avenue South on Beach Boulevard, and wait for the trolley.
This article appears in Oct 16-22, 2014.