Art for a cause: Grove event to raise money Sunday for gay film festival

The Rodezart.com gallery in Coconut Grove wants to encourage the Art Basel crowd to attend an art fundraiser for the Gay and Lesbian Miami Film Festival on Sunday, Dec. 5.

The fundraising event will be the last night of Art Basel. It will begin with the film screening of A Dark and Handsome Stranger, about actor Rock Hudson at the Paragon 13 Theater, 3015 Grand Ave. in CocoWalk, from 5 to 7 p.m. Hudson, a hugely popular movie star in the 1950s and 1960s, became the first high-profile victim of AIDS.

Then the party will move to the Rodezart.com Gallery, also in CocoWalk, Suite 237, for an art exhibit and sale from 7 to 9 p.m. Part of the proceeds will go to the film festival.

The featured exhibit, Exposed, ranges in media from film and sculpture to paintings and photography. The exhibit is described as “an exploration of self-identity through visual art and film.”

Thom Wheeler Castillo, a Miami native, is an interdisciplinary artist showing three prints in Exposed. He said his artwork is fueled by the process, not the end result. He works in prints, painting, sculpture and film.

“I start my creative process with a question,” said Castillo. “I am not bound by any one medium in answering that question. These prints [in Exposed] are representations of emotions, and what it’s like to be alive in the 21st Century; they all have traces of me in them.”

Each of the 11 artists showing at the gallery has donated at least one piece of art for the fundraiser.

“I loved the chance to help the cause, and see the community come together to flourish through the arts,” Castillo said.

The local jewelry designer, Gian Carlo, has also donated jewelry for sale at the event. There will be food and beverages provided at the gallery. Exposed will run through Jan. 4.

Cuban American George Rodez is the owner of the gallery, and has been a full time artist for 18 years. He opened his doors on 3015 Grand Ave., Suite 237, in April, after having a gallery for almost five years in Coral Gables. He has held fundraisers with organizations all over Miami including the Young Patronesses of the Opera and the Health Council of South Florida.

“These fundraisers are how I give back to the community for supporting my art all these years,” Rodez said. “I feel a real connection with the people, and they usually come back to the gallery to check out the future exhibits.”

The Rodez Gallery is one of 12 in the Grove that aims to bring art lovers into the area. In May the galleries began a monthly art walk on the first Saturday of each month, from 7 to10 p.m., to encourage patrons to visit all the shops. The galleries will have extended hours throughout Art Basel. Trolleys will go back and forth between the galleries.

“We want people to think of the Grove as a place where they can go to get their art fix,” Rodez said.

These 12 galleries kicked off the week of Art Basel with “Arts in the Grove” on Monday, Nov. 29. The galleries premiered their latest exhibits. With the help of a grant from the Business Improvement District in Coconut Grove, the galleries were able to organize the event in only a few months. The success of the event has motivated Grove gallery owners to continue the tradition next year, Rodez said

“We want to put Coconut Grove on the map for the art scene, like the Wynwood Art District,” said Rodez. “We have all been pretty successful at improving the quality and variety of the art.”