Art is Song

September 16, 2011

Natalia Zuckerman







Art is Song

September is traditionally the slowest month of the year in Key West, when we first arrived twenty years ago, many businesses simply shut down for the month, hanging the proverbial “Gone Fishin’’ sign in the door. Nowadays there are only a few places that still close down for a portion of the month and a number of events and activities are held that try to start building for the busy season which begins in earnest in October with the arrival of Fantasy Fest.





The kick-off of the cultural season at The Studios of Key West this week was celebrated by a pair of events at the historic armory that included the annual studio artists show as well as the first show of the fifth season of the fantastic Old Town/ New Folk concert series. The concert was in conjunction with the annual Womenfest celebration that attracts thousands of Lesbians for a week of activities and fun each year.







The concert featured the amazing talents of a pair of women, Adrianne Gonzalez and Natalia Zuckerman, neither of which I was familiar with. Sometimes it is better when you have not heard of a performer so that you don’t have any expectations and that was the case here as I wasn’t all that excited until they actually started playing. They were both incredible and it ended up being one of my favorite shows of the entire five year series.





Zukerman and Gonzalez met four years ago at a music festival and had an immediate musical connection. Relying on imagery to convey emotions, the style of songwriting for both is very visual. So it would seem only natural for two songwriters who are also painters to collaborate. Fast forward several years later and Natalia and Adrianne were here as part of their first tour together, combining their visual art and their music in “Art is Song.” It was a natural fit for the Studios and a great way to kick off the Old Town/New Folk series.







The second event at the Studios was their annual show for the artists who are part of their family of fifteen studio artists and opened during this month’s Walk on White event. The opening was one of the slowest Walk on White events that I have ever seen, hardly surprising for the slow month of September, which is a shame because there really is an excellent selection of talent calling the studios home.



There are many old friends and a few new faces represented at the show and the smaller crowd offered a chance to really examine and speak to the artists and patrons in attendance , which is not often the case in the hectic shows that happen during the height of season. Kudos to Jay Scott, the staff and volunteers, patrons and most of all the fantastic artists who make the Studios such an awesome part of our island life, we really are fortunate to have such a facility here.



Nan, David, Kathy, Mark & Bre

This week also found Kathy & I joining our friend Nancy in celebrating her birthday by joining her team (husband Mark and friends David & Breanne) on their trivia challenge team for the weekly trivia game at Finnegan’s Wake. We placed second out of thirteen teams in the competition, not bad for our first time out. It was a lot of fun and we won a tasty pizza for our efforts.



We also managed to squeeze in a day of kayaking around the island this week, something that always amazes me in how completely isolated, quiet and alone you can get in the middle of the mangrove canals and salt ponds in the middle of a densely populated small island. I swear there are certain areas where you would swear you were in the Everglades or some remote out island and not with-in a few hundred yards of busy roads or airports.