Gallery exhibits Florida artist's 'Postcards from the Friendly City'

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The Lake Marion Artisans Gallery, 108 Main St. in Summerton, recently featured an exhibition of work by Florida artist Jean Blackburn.

The show, which ran from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, featured an opening reception held Sept. 22 at the gallery.

"Postcards from the Friendly City" featured work from a Florida public art project titled "Bradenton River Walk Park." Bradenton's newly opened Riverwalk Park commissioned four of Blackburn's works to celebrate the Friendly City theme.

Drawing on extensive research into the history of the Manatee River, Blackburn created imagined scenes of early Bradenton life, two of which are bordered by historical photographs of homesteaders and boats provided by the University of South Florida archives.

These images, enlarged and translated into enamel on metal, are mounted along the park boardwalk. They have also been produced as giclees which are available for purchase.

Blackburn was born and grew up on Anna Maria Island, Florida. She received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Florida, an associate's degree in biological parks technology from State College of Florida in Gainesville and a master's of fine arts from the University of Oregon, where she was awarded a two-year graduate teaching fellowship.

She taught fine arts at State College of Florida, Manatee Campus for several years. Blackburn was a painting instructor for the Ringing College of Art and Design in Sarasota and Wildacres campus in North Carolina for 14 years. She was certified by the University of Florida as a master gardener and master naturalist and served on Sarasota’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands Oversight Council.

She now serves on the governing boards of Sea to Shore Alliance and the Friends of Myakka River State Park. A small farm in Old Myakka, Florida, is where she now gardens, paints and lives with her family. Her early adult years were spent sailing and painting throughout the Caribbean, Bahamas and Central America. More recently, three trips throughout Cuba were the focus of her time from 2012-14.

Blackburn spent a month in Cuba last fall. A Chinese bus carried a small delegation of United States and Cuban citizens on an in-depth look at the island. During the first half of the journey, Jean gave a presentation on public art in Florida, visited numerous artist’s studios, art curators, historians and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The second portion of the trip was devoted to wildlife surveys in several of Cuba’s spectacular environmental preserves.

Blackburn returned to Florida and created an exhibit of photographic images revealing the close connection between the Cuban people and domestic animals. She plans to return to Cuba this month to visit more artists and present her artwork to the Cuban people.

Blackburn’s awards and honors are numerous and extensive. She has exhibited across the United States and abroad, and her work is in public and corporate collections including those at Disney Corporation, Whole Foods Market Inc. and the Constructa US in Paris, France.

For more information please call 803-478-4446.