Sam Perry

Sam Perry grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida, and is now one of the area’s most accomplished artists. He achieved success as an abstract artist in galleries in Miami, New York and elsewhere. Then, in the wake of 9/11, Sam chose to focus on the human figure. “It was a paradigm shift for me,” he explained. “I became more aware of humanity and its frailty.”

Sam is an active proponent of the arts in his community. A member of the faculty of the Armory Art Center since 1987, he is now the longest- serving person there. He also taught art at Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach Atlantic University and Dreyfoos School of the Arts, in addition to giving private lessons.

Sam received all of his education in Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Art at Ringling College of Art and Design and his Master of Fine Art at Florida Atlantic University.

“I like to draw in public spaces because it connects me to my community.” Sam added, “Palm Beach county is significant to the arts in Florida and becoming more so as the population continues to grow and evolve into sophisticated art-lovers.”

Sam Perry is the recipient of the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship. His work has appeared in numerous solo exhibitions and is collected by museums, universities and private patrons.

Terre Rybovich

Each of these large drawings began with Terre Rybovich charcoaling the entire surface of the paper and then lying down on it. The idea came to her years ago while delirious with the flu. “Drawing backwards” is how it initially presented itself. In other words, she removes charcoal to create an image instead of adding charcoal to paper.

Focused on figurative work, the body seemed like the most promising means for removing charcoal. The imprints are subtle but powerful, even edifying. She explains an unexpected outcome of this technique is how the mind reacts when confronted with creative input that it did not generate. Every new drawing requires a period of slow absorption, or acquiescence, before the mind can yield to the body’s input. Then the imprint guides the process of completing the drawing.

Ultimately, the result of the body calling the shots at the drawing board is that she creates artwork that the mind could not have imagined. This means she works in a state of perpetual wonder.

Other artists have imprinted their art with their bodies since the earliest cave paintings. What captivates us is the unadulterated impact of this most literal means of making the immaterial material— which is the essence of art.

Terre’s formal education covered politics and economics. Her first career was in social justice activism and grant-making. That activist experience forged an enduring commitment to this world. It also instilled a courageous drive that she channels into art-making where she is happiest when she ventures beyond what is known.

She is the daughter of Tommie Rybovich, the noted boat designer and builder. Ms. Rybovich proudly claims an inheritance of self-guided vision and ambition for the work.

Purvis Young 1943-2010

Inducted into the Florida Artist Hall of Fame 2018

Born in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood, visual artist Purvis Young is most associated with the Overtown neighborhood where he settled in the 1960s. A major figure in the world of “Outsider Art,” his work may be found in the collections of the American Folk Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the High Museum of Art, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as Overtown’s Black Archives History and Research Foundation of South Florida, among many others.

A prolific creator, Young served three years in prison as a teenager, where he began drawing and studying art books from the prison library. “I didn’t have nothing going for myself,” he said. “That’s the onliest thing I could mostly do. I was just looking through art books, looking at guys painting their feelings.”

His work, highly influenced by Western art history, is colorful and vibrant, often serving as social critique and a call to action for social justice. Young painted and drew on a multiplicity of objects including found wood, discarded cardboard, doors, old utility bills, and printed pages from books. His installation “Good Bread Alley” consisted of multiple works affixed to the walls of a vacant alley in Overtown. Artworks were often sold or removed, then replaced with new works, and the installation/mural soon attracted the attention of the media and Bernard Davis, owner of the Miami Art Museum, who became an early patron, providing art supplies to the artist.

Lighthouse ArtCenter:

The Lighthouse ArtCenter is a 501c(3) nonprofit that has provided uninterrupted art and cultural programming in Palm Beach County Florida for 55 years. Started in 1964 by Christopher Norton and eight ambitious artists the ArtCenter has grown to include a 5,000 square foot gallery and 8,000 square foot school of art. The gallery installs an average of 11 exhibitions visited by over 20,000 guests each year while the school of art features a faculty of 45 professional artists who serve over 2,500 adult students and 700 children (ages 6-12). Scholarships are available for those in need. Adults and children with special needs meet for art classes at no charge. Faculty outreach serves over 300 more residents in assisted living facilities, underserved communities and children from economically challenged circumstances.

Support for the Lighthouse ArtCenter comes in many forms; gallery sales, classes, membership, sponsors, grants, fellowships and a working board of directors.

If you are interested in more information, or to inquire about purchasing one of the pieces on display in this exhibition please contact Janeen Mason.

Email: Janeen@LighthouseArtCenter.org Phone: (561) 746-3101