Group announces dedication of the Larry Enlow Emerging Artist Scholarship
Gulfport, FL – In just six years, Gulfport fine arts collective ArtJones has established itself as a premier artist collective on Florida’s Gulf Coast and become a holiday shopping staple for arts lovers in the Tampa region. The group celebrates its sixth anniversary on December 3rd-4th, with its most creatively diverse group of artists to date and a newly dedicated scholarship for emerging artists.
The two-day, self-paced tour features 27 fine artists across nine stops who represent a wide variety of mediums; painting, ceramics, sculpture, woodworking, photography and jewelry.
ArtJones founder Brenda McMahon says there’s a growing sense of the art collective’s position on the regional creative landscape. “It’s exciting that in just six years, ArtJones is well on its way to establishing itself as an arts destination within Gulfport and St. Petersburg. Each year we grow our vision as we expand our professional artist base while also welcoming emerging artists into the fold. In this second year of our scholarship program, we’ve dedicated the award to Larry Enlow, a dear friend and supporters of artists throughout the region, ensuring that ArtJones members continue to lift up newer artists as they enter the regional art scene.”
ArtJones announced last week via social media that painter Jessica Ryan is the recipient of the inaugural Larry Enlow Emerging Artist Scholarship, named after the group’s first patron and a patron of the arts for years in the region, Larry Enlow. Mr. Enlow passed away last year after a lifetime dedicated to assisting artists personally and through the Enroy Foundation, a 501 © 3 founded by Enlow and wife Maureen Kilroy.
Said Ryan: “I am honored that the Gulfport art community awarded me this emerging artist scholarship and the opportunity to participate in ArtJones with fellow talented artists this year! Making a connection to the viewer’s own experiences through my artwork is my muse. My newest paintings expose daily experiences with my mental health in our present world and time, through economic, political and societal happenings. Look forward to emotive paintings of figurative hand gestures and narrative scenes using mixed media.”
Of the 27 participating artists on this year’s tour, 11 are making their ArtJones debut, including the aforementioned Jessica Ryan, painters Joyce Burkholder, Kiersty Long, Bobbi Pratte, Marius Wiget and Kitty Zehnder, jeweler Charles Bahringer, woodturner Don Stafford, mixed media artists Cynthia Dugat and Dorian Angelo and photographer Herlys Perez. Painter Anna Ayers and sculptor Tom Pitzen return to the Tour after a brief absence, and join returning artists Ray Domingo, Jila Davoodi, Doug D’Souza, Nancy Poucher, Deserie Valloreo, Judith Villavisanis, Curtis Whitman, Amy Howell, Denny Howard, Patricia Burrows, Margaret Foy Meinhart, Paula Roy, Eric Folsom, Janet Folsom and McMahon in a lineup of fine and emerging artists from throughout Gulfport and the greater St. Pete creative community.
The group has designed the Open Studio Tour in 2022 to offer arts lovers fewer stops while seeing more artwork, clustering artists to provide visitors fewer stops to navigate. Each of the 9 studio locations will host 2-4 artists. For more information on the artists and to download a brochure with a map of this year’s tour, please visit ArtJonesStudioTour.com and social media outlets @WeAreArtJones on Facebook and @ArtJonesGulfportFL on Instagram.
About the Host: ArtJones is an independent artist-run collective with a rotating list of artists selected by invitation.
Media contact: James Briggs
843-501-9128
Briggs@CarrowayRose.com