"Untitled," (1992) by James Michaels Credit: Collection Of Ivan Matusek And Wayne W. Juchatz

All Florida Juried Exhibition & Tomorrow's Drawing Today. For the 14th installment of the All Florida Juried Exhibition, Dr. Donald Kuspit, contributing editor at Artforum and professor of art history and philosophy at SUNY Stony Brook, skimmed the cream from nearly 500 entries statewide. Forty-five winners go on display, along with a separate group of drawings by esteemed Santa Fe collector Sandy Besser's favorite under-hyped artists from around the country. Sept. 8-Oct. 29, The Arts Center, St. Petersburg, 727-822-7872.

Brian Ransom: Harmonic Resonances. Eckerd College professor Ransom starts with an idea of a sound, then builds a ceramic device that will make it — from resonating vessels rigged to create a changing environment of sounds in response to visitor movement through the gallery, to a trumpet that Ransom will play with his Ceramic Art Ensemble at the exhibit's opening reception. More works and an additional performance spill over into the Studio@620. Sept. 15-Oct. 31, Florida Craftsmen Gallery, St. Petersburg, 727-821-7391.

Aaron Siskind: Harlem Document. In September, the Tampa Gallery of Photographic Arts relocates from Hyde Park to the heart of downtown and becomes the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts. Inaugurating the new space: an exhibit of documentary photographs by Aaron Siskind depicting Harlem street life circa World War II. In its new incarnation, look for the museum to offer more programming, including lectures on collecting and the history of the medium, as well as digital photography classes. Sept. 15-Nov. 5, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tampa, 813-251-1800.

Luis Montoya and Leslie Ortiz: Revisions of Nature. The collaborative team of Montoya and Ortiz has been producing oversized sculptures of fruit, vegetables, shells and mollusks in patinated bronze for more than a decade in their West Palm Beach foundry. If approved by the city for outdoor display during hurricane season, a 2,000-pound watermelon, 10-feet-tall tomatoes and a 10-foot stalk of asparagus may sprout from the museum's courtyard along Ashley Drive. Sept. 30-Jan. 7, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, 813-274-8130.

Entre Chien et Loup. Bleu Acier's first exhibit of the season examines new directions in contemporary art through paintings, works on paper, installation and video art by artists from New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Florida, France and Germany. The title comes from a French idiom that describes the moment when day turns to night. "Forms, colors, and shapes all melt together and the horizon presents new spatial propositions," said gallery owner Erika Schneider. Opens in October. Bleu Acier, Tampa, 813- 272-9746.

James Michaels: Passion for Paint & Gary Bolding: From Window to Wall. Simultaneous exhibits by two Bay area painters find them headed in opposite directions. New work by Gary Bolding, known for his hyper-realistic, symbolic tableaus, turns to the territory of nearly pure abstraction. An older series of paintings from James Michaels, recently known for pop-influenced canvases like the one shown in underCURRENT/overVIEW 8, focuses on figures — including the artist himself — engaged in dynamic scenes with religious overtones. Oct. 21-Jan. 28, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, 863-688-7743.

Berni Searle. South African artist Berni Searle grapples with issues of identity and race in performance on film and video and in photo installations. Disappearance, transience and vulnerability recur as poignant themes in the dreamlike works. Prior to a solo exhibit at the museum, Searle takes up residence at Graphicstudio to create a specially commissioned work. Oct. 27-Dec. 16, USF Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, 813- 974-4133.

Clyde Butcher: The American Wilderness. Butcher, a Floridian known internationally for his stunning black-and-white landscapes, exhibits 37 large-scale photographs from his travels to some of the country's few remaining tracts of untouched wilderness: Big Cypress National Preserve, Rocky Mountain National Park, and California's Pepperwood Redwood Forest. Don't miss a talk by Butcher on Dec. 1, sure to combine the artist's engaging sense of humor with his passion for environmental conservation. Nov. 10-Jan. 28, Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo, 727-518-6833.

Traces of the Avant-Garde: Mabel Palacín. Each year, the Dalí Museum commissions an established contemporary artist to respond to the legacy of Salvador Dalí and the avant-garde; 2006 brings work by Catalan videographer Mabel Palacín to the Bay area. The artist's previous work has dealt with the play between perception, time and space in film and video. Dec. 8-Mar. 4, Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, 727-823-3767.

Fall Arts 2006: Choose Me

What to Watch For

This article appears in Aug 16-22, 2006.