2025

Guest Juror - Cape Coral Arts Festival and the Shell Point Annual Exhibition
Wildlife and Wild Places at Friends of Rookery Bay, facilitator

Found in translation: FGCU students look at Rookery Bay with fresh eyes in new art exhibit

Written by Amy Bennett Williams, April 16, 2025

“If, as poet W.B. Yeats contends, “Love comes in at the eye,” Rookery Bay has captured the hearts of a group of Florida Gulf Coast University students.

Their exhibit, Wildlife and Wild Places in SWFL, runs through August 1 with a May 8 opening reception. Organized by Friends of Rookery Bay, the nonprofit helps with community outreach, volunteer coordinating, fundraising and education.” Read more here.

Rookery Bay exhibit stresses interaction between art and the environment

Published on WGCU, April 22, 2025 - Read more here.

Inspired by the work of Friends of Rookery Bay and their mission, students at FGCU created original photographs and sculptures. “These artworks were aimed at connecting viewers with Southwest Florida’s dynamic coastal environment and celebrate the long-standing relationship between art and environmental stewardship,” says Athan Barkoukis, executive director with the Friends of Rookery Bay.

These artists were enrolled in either the History of Photography course (taught by Professor Hannah Harley) or Sculpture II course (taught by Professor Steve Hughart). “Through this collaboration, we’re seeing real world integration of what we teach in the classroom and how it can be applied to the communities in our Southwest Florida region,” said Harley. Artists participated voluntarily in this public exhibition and found their inspiration through different plant life, birds, reptiles, ecosystems and landscapes throughout the region.

Students go wild with nature art on display at Rookery Bay

Published on FGCU360, written by Nina Barbero - Read more here.

FGCU holds about 10 exhibitions a year where student artists can showcase their work, including the Wasmer Art Gallery, the Wilson G. Bradshaw Library, the sculpture garden and campus murals. Showing work off campus is an exciting experience for students, Loscuito said.

“This might be the first exhibition some students may have, which is a wonderful opportunity for us to provide for them. It shows that they can exhibit as professional artists,” he said.

“Seeing my work up on a gallery wall, and seeing people looking at it and discussing it and smiling at it is probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever gotten to experience,” she said of her opening night debut.