Review: Diversity Exhibit at Massimo Art Gallery

On Saturday, Massimo Art Gallery opened the Diversity Exhibit, a one night only exclusive event. Elijah Horton, Liza Thompson, Emilee Stevens, and Forrest DeBlois were the featured artists of this exhibit with artworks ranging from charcoal drawings to pointillism. All artists represented in this exhibit were locals from the Greater Orlando, Florida area.

We got a chance to hear some of the featured artist’s stories and we’d like to share a bit of their life in the arts with you:

Say hello to Emilee Stevens, a student at the University of Central Florida (UCF) studying to be an art teacher. She is majoring in art studio and minoring in art education. “Charcoal is definitely my favorite medium I like to work in”, Stevens said. All of her works on display for the evening were charcoal drawings and in-person they look like a photograph, that is how much detail she includes in her work. Simply amazing!

In the picture above, you will see a drawing to the far left of a woman, which is actually a self-portrait of Emilee. We captured a close up video of this piece that she stated took her four months to complete, take a look:

Other works on display for the evening, created by Emilee Stevens were:

Liza Thompson was another artist, who had her artwork on display for the Diversity Exhibit for the evening. This wonderful soul shared with us her journey through the arts and what lead her to introduce a new art technique into her artistry. For starters, she loves black & white with charcoals. In the picture below, you will see all of her artwork that was on display for the evening. Her works ranged from charcoal drawings to dotted paint art known as pointillism.

Pointillism was a new technique she came into after being in a fatal car accident having had 16 bones in her body broken as a result. In a wheelchair for ten months with the ability to minimally use her hands, she had to figure out a way to continue her artistry and keep her creativity flowing. Pointillism was the answer to her temporary injury as she was able to use her hands to drip the paint. Thus, her journey began in the creation of her dotted masterpieces. Take a look at the detail of one of her artworks titled, “Messenger” that we captured for you in the video below.

Next is Elijah Horton, he started his journey into the art of photography when he moved to Orlando, Florida with his grandmother. He has resided in Orlando for about 5 years and has been practicing photography for a couple of years.

Check out this video of a black & white photograph he took of the Epcot – Walt Disney World Spaceship Earth Geosphere also referred to as the giant golf ball.

Forrest DeBlois, a professor at the University of Central Florida (UCF) also had his charcoal pencil and india ink works of art on display for the night.

The crowd was exceptionally diverse with local television figures to filmmakers and musicians present. It was a fantastic night of art and getting to know thy neighbor.

There was even a live musical performance towards the end of the event with a singer/guitar player and piano player, fusing the visual arts and performing arts together for the evening.

We’d like to give a special thank you to Massimo Art Gallery for giving local Orlando artist a place to spotlight their creativity. If you would like to visit, Massimo Art Gallery, check out their website for gallery hours or give them a call at (407) 350-9218 for more information.

Pictures speak a thousand words. If you missed this event or want to recap the night and all of its awesomeness, take a look at our snapshots taken throughout the evening: