Art Rocks: Opening of local gallery kicks off with 'teens only' event

Thursday, January 31, 2002

By NANCY STETSON
NAPLES DAILY NEWS


When Joseph Padulo's kids were in their early teens, he took them to a Picasso exhibit in New York City.

"They loved it. I saw it right away," he says. "I'm an art nut with a small 'a,' not a fanatic. I didn't want to drag them to a museum. They got exposed to art and they loved it." Now, as a gallery owner in Naples, he hopes to do the same for Naples' teens.

When Padulo Longstreth Goldberg, a new Naples gallery, opened this past weekend, they held a special event for the area's teens Saturday night called "Art Rocks: For Teens Only." Owned by Padulo, Joe Longstreth and Peg Goldberg, the 5,000-square-foot gallery touts itself as being "dedicated to the development of emerging contemporary artists." Padulo thought that teens and contemporary art were a smart combination.

Alex Faccinto, 15, of Naples looks at the "Last Supper", a mixed media painting by Slade. Dan Wagner/Staff

"I know that kids are more open-minded than adults," he says. He was also inspired by reading about a Boston museum that holds events for teens, drawing as many as 400 to 500 per event. In hopes of making the gallery teen-friendly, they served pizza and soda and hired a DJ so the teens could dance. (No one did.)

Teens were involved with "Art Rocks" before the weekend, though; students from Pat Morrison's Creative Graphics Class at Naples High School designed fliers, which in addition to being posted at their own school were sent to the art and music students at Barron Collier High School, Gulfcoast High School and Lely High School.

Saturday's event was a very shy and casual affair; originally slated to begin at 7:30 p.m., it started at least a half-hour late. The owners waited for more teens to show up. Some came but left when the event didn't start when promised. Approximately three dozen teens attended the talk by Milton Esterow, editor and publisher of ARTnews magazine. His talk was titled "Everything you always wanted to know about art...but were afraid to ask."

"Art education has been a deep interest of mine for many, many years," Esterow said prior to speaking to the attendees. "I feel our schools are not doing enough in educating students about the wonder and the glory and the magic of art. I was talking to two Naples high school teachers who brought some of their students here. I was amazed to hear that they know about Michelangelo, Henry Moore, and other artists of the past, but don't know much about modern artists." Esterow, whose magazine is celebrating its centennial, often speaks at museums and colleges.

Canadian artist Candace Lourdes, second from left, discusses the gallery's art with Nathan Hilliard, 18, from left, Peter Lechler, 17, and Lorenz Gradus, 17, all of Naples. Lourde's work can be seen in the background. Dan Wagner/Staff

"The height of my speaking career was a month ago," he says. "I was invited to give a talk to my granddaughter's eighth grade class. I was scared stiff. (Compared to that, speaking at) The Metropolitan Museum of Art was a breeze. But no one fell asleep. I had a great time. "As Esterow puts it, the essence of his talks is: "Sure, read the critics, but this is not holy writ. It's one person's opinion. Make up your own mind. If you go to a museum, see work by (Robert) Rauschenberg or (Jackson) Pollock or Jasper Johns and you don't like it, don't get depressed. I know an awful lot of people who don't like Rauschenberg or Pollock's paintings, but somehow lead happy, normal, contented lives."

When he spoke to the teens, he gave some biographical background, then complained about art critics who write 'gobbledygook.' "You read them and you don't understand what the heck they're writing about," he said, and, as an example, read an indecipherable sentence from an art review. "The writer suffers from what I call botanical speech impediment — he writes flowery," Esterow declared.

As for the art scene in Naples, "What's going on here in Naples would've be unimaginable 30 years ago," he said. "The Naples Museum of Art, the art schools, galleries like this. There is a growing decentralization of art. New York is the capital and probably always will be, but to ignore what's happening elsewhere is insane."

Approximately half a dozen artists, whose work was on display, also attended the event, but didn't speak publicly.

Some of the teens shyly sought out the artists and talked with them one-on-one.

Christina Miller and Nina Bozicnik, both 17 and seniors at Naples High School, talked with Canadian artist Candace Lourdes. Lourdes, heavily influenced by Wayne Thiebaud, paints large, colorful close-ups of everyday objects such as teapots, food, irons and motorscooters.

"It's great," Lourdes said. "I explained some things about symbolism, how some artists use visual symbols that are very conscious and obvious, and others are more unconscious. I like talking with them."

"I want to become a curator or go into arts management," said Bozicnik. "The fact that they geared this towards teens was cool because I'm into educating the public about art."

"I like art. I want to do something with art for a career," Miller said. "Maybe advertising. I like the realistic pictures, the still lifes. It's really interesting to see all different kinds of art in one place."

"Everyone was saying 'This is like New York,'" said Greg Padulo, the gallery's director, looking around at the spacious gallery. "I said: 'It's not. I grew up in New York. I'm influenced by that. This is Naples and it's happening right here.'"

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