Tag: boca raton

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Sandler Center hosts virtual Jewish film festival

This year, the Levis JCC’s SandlerCenter goes on-line with more  than 50 Jewish-themed films from around the world – from historical dramas to documentaries and shorts in its virtual Judy Levis Krug Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival (BRJFF), running through May 16, 2021.

In addition, there will be Q&A webinars with filmmakers, cast members, and community lecturers, as well as the opportunity to view each film up to 72 hours after its scheduled time.

“Our strong relationship with the film industry has allowed us to present our patrons with a high-quality line-up of films and speakers year after year, in turn, we are able to continue to inspire, educate, and connect with our community year after year,” said Lesley Rich, BRJFF program & production director.

Making its Florida premiere on Mar. 22 is the Israeli documentary, “Shamir, His Way,” by filmmakers Igal Lerner and Erez Friedman, a one-hour documentary film about Yitzhak Shamir, former Israeli Prime Minister and one of the founding members of the State of Israel who has impacted the entire Middle East region for decades.

Shamir passed away in 2012 at the age of 97 and left a deep and on-going legacy in Israel, the state he helped to found. Shamir was the country’s third-longest-serving prime minister after David Ben-Gurion and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Born in Poland, Shamir was a soldier and politician who was elected to the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in 1973 and again in 1977. He became Prime Minister in 1983–84,1986–90, and again from 1990–92. Before Israel’s statehood, Shamir was a leader in the LEHI, an underground movement against the British Mandate in Palestine and was a member of the notorious Stern Gang. In 1946 he was exiled to Eritrea by the British but escaped and made his way back to Israel. Shamir was also the head of an elite and secret unit in the MOSSAD

– Israel Secret Intelligence Service where he had served for more than 10 years before entering politics.

His son Yair Shamir, a former Colonel in the Israeli Air Force and now a philanthropist and venture capitalist says, “My father had a unique personality, and we try to show this in the film. He was a leader – a leader of people, a leader of the state, a fighter, and father.”

“Despite his accomplishments, he was a very modest person with zero ego,” he says. “On the other hand, he was always a leader with a unique style – very open and a team player.”

“Shamir’s story is intertwined with the story of Israel,” says Noa Cacharel, the film’s international sales agent. “Through the film, you are able to see how Israel has survived and gotten to where it is today. Shamir cared deeply about his country and is an icon in the state of Israel.”

“We owe him a lot,” she says.

The filmmakers decided to focus on the period in 1991 when Iraqi
missiles launched on Israel, and Shamir, then prime minister, made the decision not to retaliate against Iraq. They wanted to explore his decision-making process and ability to withstand pressure from both the United States and Russia.

Later that year, in September 1991, Shamir represented Israel at the Madrid Peace Conference, which brought about direct negotiations with Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Palestinians. He brought with him, a then-unknown young politician by the name of Benjamin Netanyahu and introduced him to the world stage. The film intertwines exclusive and behind-the-scene insights illustrating the unique path between the terror of war and the hopes of peace. It includes rare interviews with influential people such as Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, both Former Israeli Prime Ministers, in addition to Ya’akov Peri, Former Head of the Israeli Security Agency Shin Bet, and Shabtai Shavit, Former Director Director General of the Mossad, Israel’s Secret Agencies. All of whom have worked closely with Shamir through the years.

Lerner, a director and producer, is known for his documentary films about Natan Sharansky, and about the murder of an Israeli Jewish-Palestinian political activist, Juliano Mer.

Says Lerner, “Shamir kept his distance from the media and was one of the most ‘mysterious’ prime ministers of Israel. Our greatest challenge was to define and understand his way of thinking. He was a true chauvinist for Israel, an attitude he developed during WWII when his family was murdered by Poles in their village in Poland.”

It was that experience and way of thinking that led him in later years to advocate for both the emigration of Russian Jews to Israel as well as the later absorption of the Ethiopian Jews to Israel, as part of “Operation Solomon” in 1991.

“It was one of his missions in life to bring as many Jews as he could to the Land of Israel,” says Yair Shamir.

“For me, my father is a role model,” he says. “But, not only for me, but for my kids and nieces and nephews. He was a beacon shining a very focused light and providing a feeling of safety and lighting the way to overcome obstacles.”

“He is the beacon for our family,” he says. “It’s a challenge to live up to his ideals.”

“The name ‘Shamir’ means a very strong rock,” says Shamir. “My father lived up to his name.”

In 2012, Shamir was given a state funeral and buried amongst Israel’s other war heroes and prime ministers on Har Herzl in Jerusalem.

“Yitzhak Shamir was a tremendous beacon for all Israel,” says Cacharel. “So many people look up to him and admire him. We have schools and hospitals named in his honor. He stood for something and was steadfast in his ideals and principles – you don’t find that in many politicians these days.”

Other film screenings in March include Michael Lopatin’s “Code Name: Ayalon,” a David and Goliath story during Israel’s War of Independence, Jacek Borcuch’s “Dolce Fine Giornata,” a story about a clash of great creative intellect and femininity, with the backdrop of eroding democracy in Europe, and Oren Jacoby’s “On Broadway,” with Broadway legends including Helen Mirren, Christine Baranski, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, and Viola Davis sharing their experiences On Broadway lifting the curtain to show behind the scenes, with glimpses into the world of live theatre.

Visit Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival (bocajff.org)

Tickets range from $4.99-$12 and film pass packages range from $59-$299 (prices are per household); tickets and packages are available for purchase online at Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival (bocajff.org). Movie rentals can be enjoyed on various platforms by downloading the Eventive TV app which is available on Apple TV, Roku, Firestick, Chromecast, etc.

The film will be screened in Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival on March 21-23. Together for a Q&A with Yair Shamir (son of Yitzhak Shamir) and filmmakers Igal Lerner and Erez Friedman on March 23.

Find a link to the film’s page at bocajff.org.

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From dirt supply line to six lanes of bustle and business

Drivers regularly travel roadways like “telegraph road” or “post road” without giving the names a second thought. Yet, road names often have historical roots with interesting stories behind them. South Florida’s Military Trail is one with a history older than Florida’s statehood.

Today’s Military Trail is a 46-mile, north and south, commuter route running from Jupiter to Pompano Beach, teeming with modern development and prone to congestion. It’s a far cry from its origins as a trail blazed by Tennessee and Missouri military volunteers during the Second Seminole War (1835- 1842).

Well before Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821, the Seminole people were being driven out by settlers moving into their homeland. Conflicts naturally ensued, eventually leading to the three Seminole Wars between 1817 and 1858.

The second war erupted after the U.S. government tried to forcefully remove all Seminoles from Florida.

Seminoles were adept at guerrilla warfare and used their knowledge of the Everglades to their advantage. Outnumbered and outgunned, however, by 1842, according to britannica.com, “some 3,000 to 4,000 Seminoles had been resettled, and only a few hundred remained. The Armed Occupation Act of 1842 promoted white settlement in Florida and the Second Seminole War was declared over on August 14, 1842.”

Toward the beginning of the second conflict, President Andrew Jackson dispatched General Thomas Jesup to assume control of the Florida troops. The military began building a string of posts in South Florida, starting with Fort Dallas (today’s Miami) in 1836, then Fort Jupiter in 1838.

Jesup ordered 233 Tennessee volunteers to cut a supply trail from Fort Jupiter to the New River in what is now Broward County.

The group was led by Major William Lauderdale, a longtime colleague of Andrew Jackson and fellow Tennessean. Volunteers followed the dryer ground of a coastal pine ridge, cutting a 63-mile path through the hammocks to the river in just four days. There, they established the garrison eventually named Fort Lauderdale. That path, originally known as “Lauderdale’s Route,” was used for military transport during the next two decades of the Seminole conflict and eventually dubbed “Military Trail.”

After the Seminole wars ended, the trail continued to see foot traffic and passenger and freight movement via covered wagons. Eventually, the trail slipped into relative disuse, until Henry Flagler put his mark on Florida in the late 19th century.

Flagler’s East Coast Railway and the resort hotels he built along the coast put South Florida on the map. Soon, rampant land speculation took hold across South Florida, which included the area along Military Trail. By the early 20th century, moneyed Northerners were lured by sales-literature rife with praise for what was otherwise wilderness and swampland. They arrived first by train and eventually by automobile, all wanting their piece of Florida.

By the 1920s, coastal towns like Palm Beach and Lake Worth were blossoming. To handle the influx of people and their automobiles, better roads were needed. Along with new roads, improvements were made to existing routes like Military Trail. Some sections along Military Trail were paved as early as 1923. Other stretches were improved, often by hand, under Franklin Roosevelt’s WPA in the 1930s.

Yet, up to WWII, much of South Florida remained undeveloped and lengths of Military Trail still unimproved, mainly serving area farms and ranches. Rather than residents and vacationers, herds of roaming cattle filled the landscape.

Post-WWII, another real estate boom brought an even greater influx of arrivals than in the 1920s. Palm Beach became one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country, with its population doubling in the 1950s. Military Trail grew into a transportation artery as Palm Beach and other coastal cities spread westward.

Amazingly, even into the 1960s, there were sections of Military Trail that were still two-lanes and even dirt roadway. Delray Beach, not much more than a sleepy retirement village in the 1960s, contained a dirt length of the road flanked by farmland.

In Boca Raton, Lynn University began life in 1962, astride a dirt stretch. As late as 1979, Military Trail in Boynton Beach remained a single-lane dirt path mainly used by area farms and ranches. Most everything west was still agricultural. In 1980, a shopping center with a Kmart being built west of Military Trail was hailed as a big deal. A small stretch of single-lane pavement designated as “Old Military Trail” still exists in Boynton Beach.

Military Trail experienced its own growing pains alongside South Florida’s exponential growth in the 1980s. Now often at six lanes, it’s hard to even envision the wilderness trail troops carved by hand nearly two centuries earlier. And, while shorter, today’s 46 miles still follow the path soldiers marched from Fort Jupiter to Fort Dallas and serves as a reminder of a somber chapter in Florida’s history.

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New exhibits at Boca Raton Museum of Art

In keeping with the spirit of the times, the Boca Raton Museum of Art is hosting six new exhibitions, many of them featuring works by women and artists of color. Three exhibits opened in October and the other three will open Jan. 26, 2021.

Two shows were extended beyond the quarantine and will continue through Jan. 3: Edward Steichen: In Exaltation of Flowers, and Works on Paper: Drawn from the Collection.

“This year has been an unprecedented journey for cultural institutions,” says Irvin Lippman, executive director of the museum. “We are fortunate to be able to provide new initiatives and exhibitions and, most importantly, a safe haven for visitors — a place of repose and enjoyment.”

“Our latest exhibits are part of recent acquisitions underscoring that the museum’s collection continues to evolve with new works by women and artists of color who challenge us to see the world anew,” says Lippman.

One of those women is Jamaican-American artist Renee Cox, known for her collection, “Flipping the Script,” which speaks to race, religion, and gender roles.

Cox flips the script again in her new work titled, “The Signing,” part of the Museum’s latest exhibition. The 15-facetime. long photograph reimagines Howard Chandler Christy’s iconic painting, “Scene at The Signing of the Constitution of the United States.”

In Cox’s interpretation, people of color, wearing traditional African clothing and period clothing from the 1700s or contemporary items, stand in for the founding fathers.

Another artist of color – the late Benjamin Patterson, one of the founding members of the Fluxus art movement during the 1960s-70s, which claims Yoko Ono as one of its own, has his work, “My Thirteen Presidents,”showcased at the museum.

Patterson depicts American presidents, along with their astrological signs, who served during his lifetime (1934- 2016) from Roosevelt to Obama.

Also on display and spanning an entire wall in the first floor gallery is Norwegian artist, Trine Lise Nedreaas’s 22-minute three-panel synchronized film, “The Entertainers” featuring the video, “The Mask,” in which a subject, Arthur, transforms himself into his alter-ego, Arthuro the Clown.

On the museum’s second floor, Delray Beach-based ceramicist and steel sculptor, Jeff Whyman’s, “Out of Nature,” features a selection of his one-of-a-kind ceramics using clays from California and Washington, and fabricated in kilns from Illinois, Missouri, and Florida, all yielding different results.

Whyman creates his works all in one moment while the clay is still wet. He uses the wheel to throw his vessels while spontaneously adding a mix of materials: sea glass, Chinese crystals, and mineral oxides.

Coming in January are “Glasstress Boca Raton 2021,” featuring Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei’s Blossom chandelier sculpture, that will travel by boat from Italy to Boca Raton, “An Irresistible Urge to Create: The Monroe Family Collection of Florida Outsider Art,” and “Paul Gervais: Faces and Forms.”

Read more about all of the upcoming shows at bocamuseum.org/art/ upcoming-exhibitions.

 

 

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Coping with COVID over the holidays

With COVID still raging, what has been called “the most wonderful time of the year” might not seem quite so wonderful this holiday season.

In fact, for some, it might feel downright depressing.

But there are steps we can take to adapt during these unique times to make the holidays and the new year as happy and fulfilling as possible.

Acceptance
“Accept that things are going to look a little diff erent this year,” says Dr. Amy Bravo, PsyD, a psychologist in private practice in Weston.

“There may be parts of this holiday season that are not our preferred ways of doing things, that are disappointing or upsetting. We have to allow ourselves to accept that and to feel that,” she advises.

Boundaries
Decide what social interactions and parameters you are comfortable with given COVID, and set those boundaries.

Are you okay with in-person get-togethers? Indoors or outdoors?
What size group? Will you be socially distanced?

Have the others who will be in attendance been quarantining? Will people be wearing masks? Where have the other attendees traveled from and what was their mode of transportation?

Will attendees have recently taken a COVID test? Do you have family members who might be more vulnerable to COVID?

These are some of the considerations to think about as you set boundaries that you are comfortable with and that make you feel safe.

Communicate
Inevitably, not everyone is going to agree with your boundaries, but they should be respectful of yours and vice versa.

“What families want to be careful and mindful about is judgment of other peoples’ difference of opinion,” says Dr. Bravo.

“Accept that not every member of your family or your circle of friends is going to see things the same way.”

Understandably, it can be difficult and hurtful to disappoint friends and relatives when your COVID boundaries and theirs conflict and you or they feel the need to decline an invitation.

If you are the one declining the invitation, assure them that it’s not personal, (and don’t take it personally if they are unable to accept your invitation).

Convey that you would love to get together but under these circumstances you need to choose what is best for you and makes you feel safe, and that you are really looking forward to a time soon when you can get together again.

Be creative
Once you have accepted that the holidays are different this year and know your boundaries, focus on creative options that will make the holiday special.

Maybe it doesn’t work to get together with out-of-town family, but there are local friends with whom you see eye-to-eye.

Is there a way of incorporating family traditions and get togethers in new ways? Perhaps it’s an outdoor visit or with a smaller group.

Maybe you can get together via Zoom, FaceTime, or Skype, where grandparents can read Christmas stories or light Hanukkah candles with their grandchildren remotely, watch each other open gifts, or eat a meal together but in separate locations.

In other words, while you may be apart from family and friends, you still can be a part of family and friends’ holiday celebrations.

COVID has made this a difficult year, even more so for those who have lost loved ones or suffered and recovered from the virus.

It’s understandable to be sad because your world has shrunk in some ways.

“Through this year, there’s been a lot of downtime. And when there’s a lot of downtime, there’s time to get in your head. And that’s not usually positive,” says Dr. Irene LeBlanc, PhD, LMCH, a mental health counselor with Psychological Associates in Coral Springs and Boca Raton.

But as we look forward to the holidays and the New Year, we can view this COVID-induced downtime as an opportunity for growth.

“We’re social beings, we’re meant to have relationships and interact with people. That keeps morale up and lifts us emotionally. We’re not meant to isolate,” says Dr. LeBlanc.

Dr. Amy Bravo contact info is: amybravopsyd.com, 954-385-8884

Dr. Irene LeBlanc contact info is: Berlinmentalhealth.com, 985-974-8423

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SoFlo BUZZ: CSMoA receives humanities endowment/Grad wins Daggerwing scholarship

Coral Springs Museum of Art receives humanities endowment

The Coral Springs Museum of Art was awarded $10,000 in funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities through a grant from Florida Humanities as part of the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.

“We are navigating through challenging times in our nation and community due to health and financial impacts COVID-19 has posed globally,” said Development Manager, Gabrielle Grundy-Lester. “We are grateful to have been awarded this grant as funding will help to support administrative costs for the organization.”

The Coral Springs Museum of Art is committed to providing the community with virtual opportunities to engage and connect with dynamic exhibits, artists, as well as educational programs for children.

North Broward Prep grad wins Daggerwing scholarship

Megan Mui, a new graduate of North Broward Preparatory School, has been awarded a scholarship by the Friends of Daggerwing Nature Center in Boca Raton.

She received the 2020 Scott Cowan Memorial Scholarship. Megan is a 2020 National Merit winner who plans to pursue a pre-med program at the University of South Florida. She is a weekly volunteer at the ER desk at Bethesda Health, in Boynton Beach, FL.

“We hope to both continue and expand our volunteer scholarship program to recognize and celebrate these young volunteers
who make a valued contribution to our nature center,” said Edith Cowan, FOD President, and mother of Scott Cowan, for whom the scholarship is named.

The non-profit organization was formed to help support and expand Daggerwing Nature Center’s programs and activities for the families and schools in the local communities.

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The Addison

A Boca Raton Fine Dining Establishment

There are only three real choices in fine dining:

1. Go to an upscale eatery and select from its sophisticated menu and get served by professional wait staff in a well-appointed environment.

2. Hire a gourmet private chef to come to your home, club or facility to oversee, create and prepare the evening’s fare, subject to your choices, whims and fancies.

3. Do it yourself at home, if you have the talent, ability and everything you need.

What if, though, you were to desire hosting an affair with dozens of people, or even hundreds of people, and you wanted haute cuisine with all the concomitant attention, nuance and subtlety of a private, intimate gathering? What if the affair was with just two of you and you wanted what amounted to a private chef for the evening? Does a facility exist that accommodates private parties from two to 400, which can serve dozens of secluded small dining areas and relatively large functions such as balls, bar mitzvahs, and weddings in a manner equal to or better than any strictly restaurant or any strictly catering facility?

Is there an eatery that is a haute cuisine catering facility and an intimate reservations-only restaurant, where not only the few restaurant patrons are spoiled with near-perfect everything, but the folks attending the larger functions are equally treated and it is all done at the same time?

The Addison (notice – it doesn’t say “restaurant,” “catering” or “banquet”) is the ONLY very upscale, very private, very near-perfect facility where, based on the reservations you make, you will be secluded in an area where you and your one guest will feel as if you rented an entire restaurant for the evening or you and your many guests will believe that you have entered into a bygone era of the decadent, quiet luxury of old Florida. It is located at 2 East Camino Real in Boca Raton (telephone: 561-372-0568).

You enter the Addison through a courtyard embraced by two huge banyan trees that are hundreds of years old. They cover just enough of the night sky to make one feel safe from the elements and reveal just enough of the night sky to allow for dream-like fantasies. Daytime functions are shaded by these protective giants, opening to a courtyard within a courtyard for exchanging vows or sliding gracefully across the grounds to the sounds of a Viennese waltz provided by your orchestra (or any sounds by any orchestra you retain).

There are comparisons to be made. Sundy House in Delray Beach is beautiful and brings its patrons to 1930s’ Florida. Vizcaya in Miami and the 55-room Flagler Museum in Palm Beach evoke the same yesteryear spirit. But in Boca Raton, in fact in all of Florida, the only such facility is the Addison, offering the finest in luxury surroundings, serviced by consummate professionals, with very haute cuisine.

Several years ago, I reviewed a gourmet, reservations-only restaurant in Boca Raton called Six Tables. That wonderful eatery caters to, as the name implies, only six tables per evening, thus making the guests feel as if they have a private chef (who chooses and creates the evening’s menu). Then there are catering facilities/ restaurant combinations such as Brooks in Boca Raton. There they allow for diners on an à la carte basis, as well as catered parties. The Addison model, however, combines the best of all worlds without sacrificing one iota, one degree of magic.

If you want to surround yourself with what once was, dine on “never tasted tastes like this,” and be treated like there’s no one else, then whether you’re two or 400 in number and you’re willing to accept the price of profound luxury, call the Addison.

It is fruitless to describe our menu for the evening because each item was prepared specifically to our desires. Each of the main courses — the chicken, the fish and the filet mignon — were, not surprisingly, exactly as ordered. The opening salads were gigantic and delicious. The desserts were amazing. The coffee was fresh and a great closing to a rare and very special evening.

Patrick Duffy (executive chef ), Cody Tomczyk (event operations manager) and Jessica Brownstein (event captain) were as gracious as if we entered their own home, but there was never so much as a hint of stuffiness. We were made to feel like royalty and I firmly believe that everyone is treated just the same.

You will not be going to the Addison for a casual dinner or a quick night out. But you will remember each and every visit, whether it’s for your anniversary, Valentine’s Day, special birthday or a large holiday event. The size of the party doesn’t matter, only the goal — perfection.

By Charles Marcanetti

[August 2011]
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Brio

HAVING RE-VISITED MY ARTICLES for the past several years, I noticed that I generally inserted negative undertones to chain or franchise restaurant reviews. I suppose that I am a victim of my own naiveté. I believe that stock recipes in a cookie-cutter decorated restaurant, with a talented but formulaically trained wait staff, cannot be great.

I was and am, quite simply, wrong. While many such restaurants really disappoint, there are some that pleasantly surprise. A case in point is this month’s delightful eatery: Brio Tuscan Grille, with many restaurants around this nation, including one right here in Boca Raton (5050 Town Center Cir #239 at The Shops at Boca Center, 561-392-3777).

When we entered the restaurant, I bumped into an old friend, Steve, who is and should be climbing the management ladder. He promptly seated us in a quiet spot (the restaurant is quite large, so quiet is relative). Next, Jenny, one of the most gracious and professional wait persons we have ever encountered, took command of arranging an ideally timed food delivery, with one perfect dish following another at just the right pace to allow for an enjoyable, non-rushed dinner that gave us time for conversation and comfortable dining.

We began with “primi” (first – duh) and experienced an array of rich but light appetizers: roasted garlic, spinach and artichoke dip, served bubbling hot with Parmesan flatbread. Next up was the chicken and chorizo-stuffed peppers, baby bell peppers stuffed with chicken, chorizo, Parmigiano-Reggiano and topped with Fontina and pesto breadcrumbs, baked until golden brown. Finally, I loved the spicy shrimp with eggplant, pan-seared shrimp in a black pepper cream sauce over Romano-crusted eggplant.

Forgetting the fact that I could stand to lose thirty pounds, I “forced” myself to sample some truly exquisite bruschettas and flatbread. We had bruschetta quattro, which is a taste of four of the bruschettas, all housemade, and then we jumped into the full orders of roasted red pepper bruschetta with fresh basil, Parmigiano-Reggiano and a balsamic drizzle, then roasted tomato and ricotta bruschetta, with fresh basil and a balsamic drizzle, and margherita flatbread made with fresh mozzarella, vine-ripened tomatoes and fresh basil. But my absolute favorites were blackened shrimp and chorizo flatbread made with smoked gouda, basil pesto, green onions, roasted pepper relish and fresh cilantro, and sausage, pepperoni and ricotta flatbread, which is topped with fresh mozzarella and house-made tomato sauce.

The reason I’m listing many more items than usual is that I truly enjoyed these dishes. I’m trying to convey my comfort level by encouraging you to feel confident eating any of the many wonderful creations appearing through – out this extensive menu.

Some other excellent choices are: lasagna Bolognese al forno, oven-baked and layered with authentic Bolognese meat sauce, alfredo, ricotta and mozzarella, or (in my case, AND) chicken Milanese, which is crispy Romano chicken with herb pasta, fresh mozzarella and housemade pomodoro sauce. I love shrimp, so, of course, I had seared shrimp risotto served with fresh basil, peperonata, fire-roasted tomatoes and a pesto drizzle, and grilled shrimp and orzo, which are spicy jumbo shrimp served with orzo, grilled asparagus, zucchini, tomatoes and lemon vinaigrette.

One house specialty is Brio crab and shrimp cakes, which are lump crab and Gulf shrimp cakes with roasted vegetables and creamy horseradish. It should be a specialty, as it was marvelous.

We had a phenomenal meat course of beef and veal where each bite was tender, moist and quite succulent. Try the artichoke-crusted beef medallions or beef medallions with shrimp scampi. The chicken under the brick, grilled salmon and roasted lamb chops artistically represented the chicken, salmon and lamb dishes.

Here’s a rather humble admission from the managers: Brio uses quality, but commercial, pastas. Their strategy is to buy what is best and then to prepare it in a unique way. Homemade pastas could be as good, but if prepared incorrectly or topped with inferior products, it’s a waste. On the other hand, top-quality, store-bought pasta that is handled as a delicacy will always be wonderful. At Brio, all the pastas were so good that I didn’t believe their pedigree, at first.

We closed out our evening with an array of con – science-considerate desserts (portion-controlled), plus one absolutely NOT portion-controlled chocolate cake and some rich and satisfying coffees. Brio is a local place with real Italian treats serving hungry people in a very happy, bright atmosphere. The prices are very reasonable and the parking is easy. I know this will be a regular dining spot for all of us.

By Charles Marcanetti

[March 2012]

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‘Selfies’ without a cell phone at Boca art museum

After hitting pause on their exhibits and programming in mid-March due to COVID-19, the Boca Raton Museum of Art reopened to the public on Jun. 3, offering a newly renovated lobby courtesy of board chair, Jody Harrison Grass, a redesigned Wolgin Education Center and free admission through September.

There is still time to catch a number of their time-run exhibitions, including “Eye to I:  Self Portraits from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery,” kicking off their national tour. Originally running through Jun. 14, the show has been extended through Sept. 20.

At a time when millions of selfies are posted every day and identity is proving to be more fluid, this exhibition from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery shines a new light on self-portraiture.

“These artists looked inward in ways we can connect with in our modern time in ways they could not have foreseen,” says Irvin Lippman, executive director of the museum. “They made a lasting mirror effect of themselves, cutting across time and creating a very personal art that engages us – the viewer,” he says. “

The show was organized by the Chief Curator of the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian, Dr. Brandon Brame Fortune and showcases 60 works from the years 1901–2015, in a variety of styles and media ranging from caricatures to photographs, from watercolors to dramatic paintings.

Fortune chose all new works for the national tour, some not part of the original exhibit.

“It was an exercise in balancing works from the 20th century, balancing mediums, looking at representations and including portraits from each decade, across generations and across time, to make sure the show that goes on tour is as strong as the original show,” Fortune said

“Because selfies are so ubiquitous, it seemed like an interesting moment to pause and look at what artists have been doing for years.,” Fortune said. “Their self-expression tells us something about their personal lives and the times in which they created the portrait.”

Self-portraits by prominent figures in the history of portraiture include Robert Arneson, Thomas Hart Benton, Deborah Kass, Elaine de Kooning, Alexander Calder and Jasper Johns, among others.

More recent works include those by artists Ana Mendieta, Chuck Close, Lois Dodd Alison Saar and Cuban-born multi-media artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, whose self-portrait, “When I am not Here, Estoy alla,” (or, When I am not Here, I am There), graces the cover of the exhibit’s catalog.

Standing serenely with her eyes closed, her face covered in white and brown makeup, one arm behind her back and one grasping a Bird of Paradise, Campos-Pons seems to evoke a discussion on the ephemeral nature of shifting identities and self-identity.

Fritz Scholder’s “Self Portrait with Grey Cat,” was the last self-portrait the artist created before he died in 2003, from complications of diabetes.

The dark, moody canvas features the artist boldly facing the viewer as he leans on his cane. His eyes are covered by tinted glasses, and the tubes from his oxygen tank run from his nose across the canvas to the floor, which has been described as a reference to the “shadow of death.”

Also extended through Jan. 3, 2021 and running concurrently with this exhibit is New  York based photographer Phyllis Galembo’s: Maske, a series of large scale photographs documenting African ceremonial masks and costumes and the Museum’s presentation of the “Edward Steichen: In Exaltation of Flowers,” a series of seven large art nouveau panels, inspired in part by Maurice Maeterlinck’s book, The Intelligence of Flowers, and depicts Isadora Duncan, Mercedes de Cordoba, Katharine Rhoades, Marion Beckett and others, along with their floral counterparts.

The seven large art nouveau panels, each ten feet tall, were painted by Steichen from 1911-1914 for the Park Avenue townhouse of Eugene Meyer and his wife, Agnes.

The murals were inspired in part by Maurice Maeterlinck’s book, “he Intelligence of Flowers,” and depict Isadora Duncan, Mercedes de Cordoba, Katharine Rhoades and Marion Beckett, along with their floral counterparts.

For more information, visit:  bocamuseum.org

 

By Jan Engoren

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