FORT MYERS, Fla. — The City of Fort Myers wants to focus on art in the city by creating a new arts and culture division. The goal is to bring together arts, culture, special events, tourism and marketing under one team.
Under the division, they will also provide artists opportunities to showcase their work across the city. Apart of the plan is to provide money to non-profits and artists to create work to represent out area.
"Art is something that can save somebody's life, something that can brighten somebody's day, something that can move somebody's heart," said Richard Bravo, a local artist.
His work is inside the Gulf Coast Leisure office in downtown Fort Myers. He says art saved him and says it's what our community needs post Ian.
"It could ignite and give an energy that's obviously not supposed to happen because there's so much loss," Bravo said.
The goal of the division is to unite local artists and make the area even more vibrant.
"We want to see art in our sidewalks, we want to see art in our rooftops," said Liz Bello-Matthews, the city spokesperson. "We want to see art pieces throughout the city. A lot of times we have our artists community not really being able to get the word out of the lovely things that they're doing."
They've had grants before, but this time they're letting artists apply if they want to collaborate on one project. Also new to the grants: the projects could potentially be permanent.
"It's endless talent in the City of Fort Myers and really all of Lee County," Bello-Matthews said.
While Bravo is happy to see this opportunity come from the city, he wants to see more galleries for artists, too.
"You really need more spaces if you're going to call it an arts and culture area," he said.
While applications for the grants do not open up until May 10, Bravo said he has an idea of what he would paint, if he gets the opportunity.
"I would say phoenix out of the ashes, something to show that from everything that happened during the hurricane, we have just transcended to greatness," he said.
An idea to display the story of Fort Myers and its resilience.
You can still look at the city's website for more information about the new division before the application process starts.
