From the Editor

Call her Joan of Art. At 76, Joan Sonnenberg is still adding to her considerable portfolio of critically acclaimed paintings. You can feel the passion and hear the thinking behind her most significant works by checking in on "Inside the Mind of an Artist" (p. 132). But the caring goes beyond her own creations. Though delightfully warm and easygoing when you meet her, she’s absolutely strong and determined in her crusade to get other artists the attention—and sales—she feels they deserve.

In fact, Joan’s pushing a plan to bring the best of Florida’s artworks to both coasts. "We’ve got a very different cultural attitude over here than they do on the east coast," she says. "So many people here, like my husband, are from the Middle West, and many have conservative tastes in art. We have some great realist and abstractionist painters in the area, but we west coasters love the classics, the flora and fauna, and that’s where a lot of our dollars go.

"I’ve lived over on the east coast of Florida and the artists there are more explorative, more cutting edge. Wouldn’t it be great to bring the art communities together?" She’d like to see some sort of exchange with, say, the Boca Raton Museum of Art setting up a sister arrangement with a museum over here.

The benefits? Here are some of Joan’s favorite artists (and their specialties) who could be involved in the exchange:

FROM SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

Richard Rosen. He uses found objects and colored glass over clay to create abstract ceramic sculptures.

Jo-Ann Lizio. She creates abstract paintings and sculpture inspired by aircraft and the science of flight.

Gisela Miller. The style of her large, colorful abstract paintings is always evolving.

Joan Dunkle. She works in mixed media and is known for assemblages she makes from man-made, natural and found objects.

Marilyn Crawford and Oswaldo Ventura. They create abstract acrylic paintings.

Jonathan Green. Known for his vivid paintings of the South Carolina Low Country, he often draws on his intimate personal experiences.

Nancy Gifford. Her whimsical, mixed-media pieces are inspired by found objects like antique English book covers as well as memories of her Ohio childhood.

FROM SOUTHEAST FLORIDA

Hanne Niederhausen. She’s an accomplished printmaker, painter and assemblage artist who approaches her art in an experimental way to express her strong ideas.

Jim and Susan Pellish. They produce huge, free-standing, colorful glass sculptures.

Lenore Robins. Her acrylic wood sculptures consist of multiple layers of liquid polymer and gold leaf. She creates striking geometric designs of vibrant color and contrast.

Carol Prusa. Her ethereal, meticulous paintings and silverpoint drawings are inspired by her fascination with science, alchemy and botany.

John Gargano. Fascinated with the beauty of craftsmanship, he turns metal into art in his strong abstract sculptures of aluminum and steel.

Meanwhile, Joan and a group of 50 artists here are trying to get a local museum to take them on as a guild. The payoff would be the emergence of award-winning young artists and commissions to the museums. And maybe the east coast/west coast exchange Joan dreams of. "Wouldn’t that make Florida one great big melting pot of art!" she exclaims. Any takers out there?