Rauschenberg’s Jewel Under the Sun: Focus Fort Myers

David Hatchett, American Shopper, 2009, metal over mixed media, 42” x 57” x 22”, Photo courtesy of the artist.

The City of Palms

By Veron Ennis and Raymond Hernandez

There is a mysterious magnetism in the air over Fort Myers, which has attracted some of the top creatives of our time to The City of Palms. This quiet vortex captured inventor and botanist, Thomas Edison and the prolific modern artist, Robert Rauschenberg. These powerful and influential individuals set the stage for what is now a prominent contemporary art scene.

Thomas Edison wintered in Fort Myers in the late 1800s. A century later, Rauschenberg migrated from his studio in New York City to live and work in his subtropical studio space on the exclusive island of Captiva. Edison and Rauschenberg went to work establishing a cultural corner for the gulf coast.

Edison built his historic laboratory and botanical gardens on what is now McGregor Boulevard. He planted over 200 imported palm trees along the dirt road between downtown and his estate. Surpassing 75 feet, these royal palms give Fort Myers its nickname, “the City of Palms.”

For his part, Robert Rauschenberg was raised in the small refinery town of Port Arthur, Texas. He spent the early part of his life close to the ocean. After becoming a paramount artist in New York and the world, he decided to find a remote location for his home and studio. Page Field, the airport that could provide easy access to New York City, connected Rauschenberg to the white sandy beaches of Captiva Island. The insurmountable beauty of this paradise on the gulf captured Rauschenberg’s heart and made the island his home.

As Edison introduced foreign plant species, Rauschenberg introduced contemporary art to Southwest Florida. After exhibiting his work continually since the 1980s, The Gallery of Fine Art at Edison Community College was renamed Bob Rauschenberg Gallery in 2004. His generosity as an advocate for the arts and artists in Lee County allowed Fort Myers to have the creative soil in which to flourish.

Pat Collins, Mouthpuller, 2007, acrylic & spray enamel on canvas, 9” x 12”, Photo courtesy of the artist.

Now the blossoming Fort Myers art scene continues to attract artists and patrons, encouraging the opening of studios and galleries. The Fort Myers Art Walk, on the first Friday of every month draws the entire community as well as international visitors. Numerous galleries, retail stores, and community art spaces participate. The contemporary art spaces found in Fort Myers are exhibiting national and international artists, hosting live performances and concerts, art festivals, charity benefits, gala events, and exposing powerful, locally curated exhibitions. This new pulse of contemporary art is getting stronger and stronger as more and more artists emerge from our streets and expose their work.

As the transcendent sunsets, unique wildlife, and boundless botany dazzled Rauschenberg since the 1970s, the Fort Myers contemporary art scene continues to shine and glimmer like a polished jewel. Each day fascinating discoveries in the field of contemporary art unfold and are proudly exhibited in Fort Myers thanks to the seeds planted here by Thomas Edison, Robert Rauschenberg, and countless other generous patrons of Lee County.

Veron Ennis and Raymond Hernandez: Visual artists, independent curators and art writers based in Fort Myers, FL.