New artists collaborative: “Float”

By Brittany Will| gargoyle@flagler.edu

Photo by Katie Vidan

A new collaborative showcase has joined St. Augustine’s First Friday Art Walk. “Float,” presented at The Standard, consists of a floating gallery featuring over 20 Flagler College art students and other local artists.

Among those artists were Flagler College students Katie Vidan, Sean Cusick, Charolotte Johnston, Michael O’hara, Maja Hydbom, Andrew Hollingsworth, Brielle Jones, Grace Shipman and many more. The art work varied from abstract forms to human forms and from paintings to sculptures, but all were floating presentations strung from the ceiling. The variety kept the crowd coming and according to Vidan, the place was close to maximum occupancy by 11 p.m.

Vidan said most of her work in this show revolved around people, while Cusick had more abstract paintings.

“I paint things that stand out to me in a memory that I want to emphasize like the color of someone’s jeans or the smoke in the air. Sometimes I just like to zone out and mix up some colors and see what happens, but the ones from memory usually end up more powerful,” Cusick said.

However the flow of variety did not just stop at these Flagler College Students. According to observer Taylor Adkins who is a Flagler art student, local artist Cody Wicker had geometric and surreal pieces while photographer Stephany Kaye presented photographers that captured the essence of her friends’ personalities.

“I helped put on the art show which we are calling the “Float” or the floating gallery. I put it together with a few people, two of which are Mark Garrison and Aaron Beasley. We’re basically trying to build an underground collective and showcase all the talent around. Being that of music, art and film. We put in a lot of hard work to pull it all together. This most recent show was our second ‘float’ showing and we plan to have this every first Friday” Wicker said.

Not only was visual floating art present at The Standard, but also local musicians. Bands included Dear Rabbit, Ghost Feilds, Peace Arrow and a few others who played until the doors were closing.

“Overall, the whole vibe of the night was really awesome. The setup was great and there was awesome live music all night, with good food outside, a full bar and tons of great art by students and established local artists alike” Vidan said.

Vidan said her experience was successful and she would definitely continue to contribute her work to following art shows at The Standard, and Wicker plans to continue the showcase and involve more artists every month.

The next First Friday Art Walk will be March 1 and not only is art presented at The Standard but it is also presented at over a dozen other places around downtown St. Augustine.