Cape Coral Art Center's New Rubicond Park Celebrates Local Art and Community
Sep 28, 2022 10:54AM ● By Francesca Block
Photo courtesy of the Cape Coral Art Center's Facebook page.
An artistic and natural oasis is soon to open outside the Cape Coral Art Center, all thanks to a generous donation from an anonymous student.
Rubicond Park is currently being designed outside the Cape Coral Art Center, located at 4533 Coronado Pkwy. The Cape Coral Art Center has been providing classes and exhibitions open to the public since 1977. It's programs are specifically tailored to the needs of the community, Recreation Program Supervisor Julie Gerhard said. The Art Center offers more than 40 programs a week, with classes ranging from watercolor painting and silversmithing to glass bead making and ceramics. The Art Center also features two gallery spaces which highlight the work of local artists in exhibitions which are free and open to the public. Members of the community can meet and celebrate the work of these local artists at the Art Center's gallery receptions held on the second Friday of each month from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The new park, generously donated by a student at the Art Center, will feature a paved pathway adorned with sculptures made by local artists, benches, interactive features and over 30 different species of native and ornamental plants. It's design is meant to inspire artists and provide a space to foster community, according to Gerhard.
"It’s a place where artists can come together and build an artist community," she said.
On their quest for inspiration, artists will have the opportunity to roam "the June Bennett Pathway to Creativity," affectionately named after a current instructor at the Art Center who has been there for over 15 years, Gerhard said.
Artists will not only have the opportunity to roam the beautiful pathways of Rubicond Park and observe its garden of plants and sculptures, but they will also have an opportunity to volunteer to help keep the park in pristine shape. Community members can volunteer to prune flowers, weed the gardens, as well as plant new flowers and bushes as the seasons change.
The park is planning to open later this fall, but Gerhard said community members have already begun to roam through it's growing gardens.
"It is amazing to see the community already enjoy it," she said.
Rubicond Park is currently being designed outside the Cape Coral Art Center, located at 4533 Coronado Pkwy. The Cape Coral Art Center has been providing classes and exhibitions open to the public since 1977. It's programs are specifically tailored to the needs of the community, Recreation Program Supervisor Julie Gerhard said. The Art Center offers more than 40 programs a week, with classes ranging from watercolor painting and silversmithing to glass bead making and ceramics. The Art Center also features two gallery spaces which highlight the work of local artists in exhibitions which are free and open to the public. Members of the community can meet and celebrate the work of these local artists at the Art Center's gallery receptions held on the second Friday of each month from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The new park, generously donated by a student at the Art Center, will feature a paved pathway adorned with sculptures made by local artists, benches, interactive features and over 30 different species of native and ornamental plants. It's design is meant to inspire artists and provide a space to foster community, according to Gerhard.
"It’s a place where artists can come together and build an artist community," she said.
On their quest for inspiration, artists will have the opportunity to roam "the June Bennett Pathway to Creativity," affectionately named after a current instructor at the Art Center who has been there for over 15 years, Gerhard said.
Artists will not only have the opportunity to roam the beautiful pathways of Rubicond Park and observe its garden of plants and sculptures, but they will also have an opportunity to volunteer to help keep the park in pristine shape. Community members can volunteer to prune flowers, weed the gardens, as well as plant new flowers and bushes as the seasons change.
The park is planning to open later this fall, but Gerhard said community members have already begun to roam through it's growing gardens.
"It is amazing to see the community already enjoy it," she said.
