By Pat Greene
Pat Greene is Bungalower Media’s first sponsored resident writer. Greene will be joining our team as our Arts and Culture Correspondent for the next quarter, supported by the efforts of Interstruct Design + Build, an award-winning Orlando-based design and build firm.
The Faith Arts Village of Orlando‘s (Facebook | Instagram) Facebook page states it is part of the Park Lake Presbyterian Church ministry.
If you’ve never been, you may have been slightly put off from visiting them if you have bad memories of being a kid going to church camp, or Sundays spent in stiff garments. If that’s the case, I invite you to forget all that baggage and try something new. A visit to FAVO feels more community potluck than a religious pilgrimage, and you can find some really challenging, forward-looking artwork and installations.
In 2014, the executive director, Will Benton, transformed the former Davis Park Motel into artist studios. The building, built in 1955, features postcard-ready roadside modern architectural features, with each former motel room having been converted into a gallery that often doubles as an artist’s studio. While generally closed to the public, FAVO hosts an open house from 5-9 p.m. on the first Friday and Saturday of each month where visitors can shop and admire what the artists have been working on.
One of my favorite parts of FAVO is that it isn’t focused on certain kinds of art or medium. It’s a mixed bag of disciplines and aesthetics and a mish-mash of different tenants and talents. In November 2022, two local business owners, Scott White, who owns Rise Above Tattoos, and Kelly Shockley, who owns Ethos Restaurant, moved SoWhat!Arts (Instagram) into the hotel.
The affable Richard Munster’s space is named the “Cross Draft Ceramics Gallery.” Munster (Instagram), who I’ve described to friends as coming off like a cerebral skateboarder, had brought in a raw punk rock vibe. The vibe attracted a younger crowd. The standbys still come by, probably because of the variety of art at FAVO. He’s been bringing in brilliant ceramic artists from around the state and his gallery has changed from a dorm-like room where artists randomly wrote on his walls to a space that could be a professional gallery in any large city.
Kelly and Scott have taken a cue from Richard’s tenure in 249 and have evolved it into a well-curated gallery that has featured some of the best installations I’ve seen in Orlando. Last July, SoWhat!Arts, hosted the talented Emily Martinez (Instagram) who created a very smart and fun lucha libre (Mexican professional wrestling) installation which was featured in Orlando Weekly.
Another person who has played an important part in FAVO, and the Orlando art scene is Brad Biggs. His gallery is Art For All Spaces (Instagram), located in Room 244. Brad has curated many shows in many different galleries or pop-ups through the years and one of his greatest talents is the ability to create galleries from just about any space.
This month’s show will be particularly interesting as it features two artists with compelling work; Jolie Spelman, a well-known local artist, and her daughter Callie Spelman, in a show called Generations showcasing their works in acrylic and mixed media.
Trevor T. Dunn: Atmospheric Observations will be shown at Cross Draft. Dunn lives in Jacksonville and is a University of North Florida professor. The show will continue into next month.
Several other rooms are worth checking out. FAVO is a great meeting space that isn’t stiff like some art galleries. I left out some of the fixtures at FAVO. There are some great artists and personalities. Leeann Rae’s Remembered Spaces in SoWhats!Arts, will be another excellent installation in 249.
FAVO is located at 221 E. Colonial Drive [GMap].
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