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Arts and Entertainment: Revealing Hidden Beauty with Wood Turner Don Duden
August 13th, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: "Twelve Artists" Celebration and Exhibit
August 1st, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Satire or Documentary?
July 27th, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Invitation to the World of Artist Mike Segal
July 15th, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: The Bold Imagery of Artist Willie Smith
July 1st, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: From Tree to Classic Chair - the Craftsmanship of H. F. Wells
June 15th, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: New Inspirations - Gernhardt Raku Pottery Exhibit
June 5th, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Illuminating Life with Brush and Pen - the Artistry of Peggy Herrick
May 27th, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Capturing Joy - the Art of Joan Morgan
May 15th, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: "Downtown Cedar Key" Exhibit Opens at Arts Center
May 2nd, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Island Hotel Hosts Art Exhibit
May 2nd, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Multi-artist Exhibit Opens at Arts Center Gallery
April 4th, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Double Your Pleasure at Arts Center Exhibit
March 7th, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Enchanted Worlds - the Art of Joyce Patti
March 2nd, 2004

Arts and Entertainment: Thinking in Three Dimensions - the Art of Chick Schwartz
February 22nd, 2004

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Enter the World of Connie Nelson

Enter the World of Connie Nelson

By Marsha Schwartz

"Enter the World of Connie Nelson"

April 5 - May 2

Opening Reception Saturday April 5 5 - 7 PM

The April exhibition at the Cedar Key Arts Center features Connie Nelson, a mixed media artist whose extraordinary talent reflects her wisdom and belies her humility.

Next year Connie Nelson will have been living permanently in Cedar Key for 30 years. She was born in Minnesota in the early years of WW II and spent her formative years there. When asked when she first knew she wanted to be an artist she said " I always had the desire to create. I had an enormous admiration for other artists, but initially didn't believe in my own talent."

Connie graduated from college with a BA in Fine Arts. She then migrated to Bennington College in Vermont where she continued to study art. The art community there included , among others, Kenneth Noland, William T. Wiley the California funk artist, Robert Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler, some of the most famous contemporary artists of the late 20th century. She was surrounded by the "east Coast heavies" and the West Coast loosies" as she puts it. Connie insists that she had an awful lot of luck to be around artists with reputations and ambition and she was deeply influenced by them. After Bennington, she moved to Brown College, where she looked at art constantly and continued to soak up art like a sponge. Connie also taught basic design at Rhode Island School of Design.

Connie eventually moved to Boston, where she met Kevin Hipe. They left Boston together in 1978 and made their way to Florida and Cedar Key by February 1979. They had headed south into the unknown with no plan, "just to find a better way to live" . They needed to follow their own ideas and turn off the noise of ambition. When they found Cedar Key, they knew that this was "it". Soon after arriving in Cedar Key, Connie was awarded a Florida Individual artist Fellowship and began receiving contracts to produce art for book jackets. She also was chosen to produce the art for the t-shirts and posters for the prestigious Winter Part Art Festival. She and Kevin opened the Suwannee Triangle Gallery in 1985 and remained in business for 22 years. They also ran the weekend Children's Art Classes in Cedar Key for 7 years. Connie designates these classes as the most satisfying teaching experience of her career.

Connie's sense of humor and vision of herself and her art are evident in the body of work on display at the Arts Center. As she will tell you herself, the events of 9/11 became a seminal turning point in her life as an artist. There is a serious undertone to even the most seemingly whimsical pieces in this show. Be sure to see this major exhibition of an amazing artist.

Editor`s Note: See an article featuring selected works of Connie Nelson on Cedar Key News --Online.

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