How early is it for an artistic field trip? Pat Green, an Orlando art curator and organizer, is willing to bet that people will gather as early as 7:30 a.m. for coffee and the occasional field trip, even if it’s “brutally early.”
And judging by the turnout at a recent meetup he co-hosted with potter Julie Herbers, he’s right. The group of about 20 people gathered at the City Arts Café for a cup of jokes and some informal conversation before heading to the Maitland Art and History Museum for a guided tour.
The concept was inspired by an event in the UK that started with a “brutally early” 6:30am gathering time.
“Swiss curator Hans Ulrich Obrist started the Brutally Early Club in London in 2006, and it is now active in multiple cities,” Green said. “If it’s 8 o’clock, people will think it’s a meeting. If it’s 7:30, it’s a bit of a gimmick. If you move it up, no one will show up. They’ll think it’s another meeting.”
With coffee in hand, we ventured down the street to Church Street SunRail station to catch the northbound train. Rather than everyone driving to Maitland and meeting up, walking and riding the rails together added an excursion-like element to the event, adding novelty and fun.
Upon arrival at the Maitland Arts Center, the group was greeted by Chief Curator Dan Hess and Exhibition Manager Katie Benson, who led them into the Mayan Courtyard to begin the tour.
We learned about Andre Smith, a visionary artist and architect who was self-taught in etching and won gold medals at international exhibitions. While serving as a reservist and artist in World War I, he injured his leg, which later had to be amputated, which not only limited his mobility but also influenced his worldview and art.
In the 1930s, Smith traveled to Florida with a studio assistant to find a winter studio and landed in Maitland. It was through a mutual friend that Smith met Mary Louise Curtis Bok, the widow of Edward Bok, who founded Bok Tower Gardens.
Through a recently discovered series of 600 letters, Bok and Smith developed a deep friendship that ultimately led to the idea of opening a new gallery space in Maitland, funded by Bok.
At first, Smith was almost speechless at this suggestion. Known for his long, beautifully hand-illustrated letters, he typed two lines in reply before gathering his thoughts and unleashing a torrent of ideas on how to shape Maitland’s space.
Smith insisted the center would include studio space for working artists. Along the way, he created concrete before the mixture was completely dry and also devised new ways to create artistic sculptures.
“The great thing about this place is that it was created by artists, for artists,” Hess said. “Andre has 2,500 hand-carved pieces that he has made himself.”
Just over a year after the idea was first conceived, the new Maitland Arts Center became a reality and opened in 1937.
As part of the plan, an outdoor courtyard featuring Mayan, Aztec, Inca, and Buddhist statues and a Christian garden chapel were fleshed out. When asked about different images, Smith pointed to what unites humans.
“Andre basically said the world is not so black and white,” Benson said. “We are all human beings and someday we will all come together as one.”
In 1943, the center began hosting weddings and continues to do so to this day.
“People feel really close to it because it’s not your typical wedding venue,” Hess says. “Even if they leave Florida, they always come back on little pilgrimages. They bring their grandchildren. That’s the part that’s really endearing to us.”
Smith’s legacy continues to inspire artists who come for residencies, including Filipino artist Isabel Francisco, who drew on Smith’s work to create a piece imagining what the center would have been like if it had been established in the Philippines in 1937. Francisco’s work was on display in the museum’s gallery for several months this fall.
Just as Smith inspired the creation of Maitland’s storied arts haven, Green has a unique way of shaping Orlando’s arts community by sharing the joy of art and cultural discovery.
“Every facility in this town has its own identity,” Hess said. “Pat is the great wind that blows through all these institutions and keeps everyone honest.”
In some cases, these establishments may provide food in nature. Maitland’s lunch staple, Kappy’s Subs, happened to be on the way back to the station, making it the perfect stop before finishing off an idyllic morning of socializing and arts education.
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If you go
The next “Sort of Brutality Early” meet-up will begin at 7:30 a.m. on January 28th at CityArts Cafe, 37 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando. Field trip begins at 9 a.m. at UCF’s Flying Horse Edition printmaking studio. The Feb. 25 meet-up will meet at CityArts Cafe at 7:30 a.m., then walk to the Orlando Public Library for a 9 a.m. tour.
