Lakeland, Florida – The Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College will host Coffee with the Artist: Beth Ford on June 9 at 10:30 a.m.
Ford has taught thousands of students since she started teaching college-level art classes more than 50 years ago.
This Mississippi native who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts and art education from the University of South Florida taught at Polk Community College (now Polk State College) prior to joining the Florida Southern College faculty in 1968. She formally retired from Florida Southern after teaching 38 years, but missed the students so much that she returned as an adjunct professor four years later to teach courses in printmaking. She also has taught drawing as an adjunct at USF.
Her exhibition, “Beth Ford: A Selective Retrospective,” opened in May and runs through Sept. 23. During Coffee with the Artist, Ford will discuss her body of work and the various mediums she has worked in and taught throughout her career.
A variety of mediums are represented in her show, including drawings, mixed media drawings, paintings, intaglio printmaking and silkscreens.
Ford, who turns 88 on June 10, has been featured in group and solo museum exhibitions throughout her career, and her work is in the permanent collections of the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art at St. Petersburg College in Tarpon Springs, the University of Tampa, and the law firm Holland & Knight.
Admission to Coffee with the Artist is free, but registration is requested: https://polkmuseumofart.org/upcoming-events/coffeeford
About the Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College
The Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida, is a private, not-for-profit academic fine art museum dedicated to promoting inspirational and engaging arts experiences for all. It is one of the Top 10 art museums in the State of Florida, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and the only art museum accredited by the American Alliance of Museums serving the 666,000 residents of Polk County. Museum hours are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesdays – Saturdays; 1-5 p.m. Sundays (closed Sundays June 1 through Labor Day) and closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission is free for everyone year-round, thanks to the following organizations: MIDFLORIDA Credit Union; the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation; and the Share Foundation. The museum is fully accessible.
About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1883, Florida Southern College is the oldest private comprehensive college in Florida. The College maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 72 undergraduate programs and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 15:1 student-to-faculty ratio; is an award-winning national leader in engaged learning; and boasts 30 NCAA Division II national championships. It is ranked among the Top 20 Regional Universities in the South by U.S. News and World Report; named a Top Baccalaureate College by Washington Monthly; and included in The Princeton Review’s 382 Best Colleges, The Fiske Guide to Colleges 2018, and Forbes magazine’s America’s Top Colleges Guide. The College is committed to the development of the whole student through vibrant student life programs that prepare graduates to make a positive, consequential impact on society. FSC is conveniently located within an hour’s drive of both Orlando and Tampa. FSC is home to the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012. Named the “Most Beautiful Campus in the Nation” for two consecutive years by The Princeton Review and one of the nations “Ten College Campuses with the Best Architecture” by Architectural Digest, Florida Southern is an internationally-recognized place of beauty and academic excellence.
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