Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Miami Herald - February 17, 2005
Kevin Dean, kdean@herald.com
This weekend in Coconut Grove, exhausted and sunburned artists will present their work to perhaps the most feared judge of all time: God.
The idea could easily make a painter tremble.
But at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, it's a tradition in the annual art show that the church has run in its leafy courtyards for the past 17 years, and it will take place again this weekend.
At this Sunday's morning Mass, the church will invite all participating artists to not only attend, but to place their beloved canvases and sculptures on the altar for a blessing from above.
"I've seen people bring pieces that just wouldn't sell all weekend, and then after the blessing they sold right away," show director Anne Johnson said.
But the show has more of an appeal than just divine interventions.
Every year, the show draws close to 150 artists, attracting a separate following of visiting artists than those who flock to the much larger Coconut Grove Arts Festival, which takes place on the same weekend outside of the church's gates.
"Miami is an expensive and difficult stop for artists that are touring on art show circuits," said Bill Ritzi, an art educator at Florida International University and a parishioner who has served on the show's jury for 10 years. "So we have to try to offer them something more than most shows."
Over the years, the show has evolved into a self-sufficient fundraiser for the church. The $400 fee that visiting artists pay for a booth helps fuel the church's local nonprofit ministries, like AIDS outreach programs, and to fund the next year's show.
This weekend, the church grounds will be filled with festival-goers eager to walk home with an armful of paintings, jewelry or crafts.
But parishioner Bonell Denton remembers when the show was no more than a blurb in the church bulletin.
Back when the Johnny Rockets across the street from the church used to be a liquor store, the show was smaller and just made a few dollars for the church's youth group.
That was about 40 years ago, he said. And since then, he's been the man that takes care of the show's little details, climbing ladders to put up lights and setting up banners.
"I don't go to many art shows, usually," he acknowledged. "And I can count on my hand the number of times that I've been to an art gallery. But to me, this show is more about the church than the art, and that's what keeps me going."
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