Forget the packed art gallery on opening night of a new show, small cups of wine and even smaller small talk. This is a different kind of art show. Much different.
Explore one of Key West’s most hidden and enchanting gardens, where original paintings will hang from between native trees in sun-dappled spaces as water bubbles from a nearby fish pond.
Local artist Ann Lorraine has partnered with JAG Gallery to host a show of her own most recent paintings in her own Catherine Street garden, the one she and her husband, Bill Lorraine, have lovingly tended for 50 years.
For months, Ann Lorraine sat quietly in the back of the Coffee Mill Dance Studio, in that cool-looking corrugated metal building on Pohalski Lane, just off Truman Avenue. She sketched and photographed as instructors taught dozens of dance classes in the 1908 building that was, literally, a coffee mill until the 1950s. Triumph Coffee Mill delivered giant burlap sacks of coffee to Fausto’s Food Palace and other locations.
In recent years, the building became home to Coffee Mill Dance Studio, offering classes and performances in ballet, tap, jazz and modern dance. The studio continues today on White Street, but the old coffee mill building was sold, ending an era for Penny Let’s dance studio.
That’s where Lorraine stepped in, wanting to capture the final days of dance in the historic coffee mill.
The results of her observations are a striking mix of acrylic, oil and pastel paintings, each one imbued with the personality of its characters. From the little girls in leotards who whisper out front after class, to the tomboy who stood outside and watched rehearsals through the open window, the new collection pays tribute to the old building, young dancers and a piece of Key West history.
The garden art show will be on display in the Lorraines’ garden, 1028 Catherine St., Feb. 14-16 from 3 to 6 p.m.
The small cups of art show wine will still be available, but this show will also offer Cuban con leches in honor of the old coffee mill.
The event is free and all are welcome. More information is available at JAG Gallery, 1075 Duval Street C23, via email to jaggallerykw@gmail.com or at 305-407-6202.
