Date: Thursday, October 7, 2026
Time: 5:00 - 6:30 pm
Location: Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center

Alicia Brown is a Jamaican-born artist now living and working in Sarasota, Florida, where she shares life with her wonderful husband and son. She works from her studio at SPAACES and is also a proud member of the Petticoat Artists Collective. Her practice focuses on representational art that explores how people navigate space—past and present—and the strategies they use to adapt and survive. Much of Alicia’s work is deeply rooted in personal, cultural, and historical reflection.

Greg Cruz is a multidisciplinary artist and educator whose work bridges urban nostalgia, lived experience, and themes of healing and human connection. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Greg’s visual language was shaped by the street art and graffiti that colored his childhood landscape, as well as the vibrant, imaginative world of 1980s cartoons. These influences appear in his work through bold palettes, playful figures, and expressive textures.

For more than four years, Greg has also taught a trauma-informed art class for adults with disabilities, using art as a tool for self-expression, confidence building, and emotional growth. In 2026, Greg and his students were featured in a four-month exhibition at The Ringling titled CONNECTIVITY. The show brought together dozens of works by neurodivergent artists, highlighting the shared experiences that link individuals across differences and celebrating art as a bridge between communities.

Ironically, Greg discovered his gift for painting during the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Having never painted before, quarantine unexpectedly became a period of creative awakening. In the stillness and uncertainty of that time, he picked up a brush and discovered a form of expression he never knew existed within him. What began as an unexpected creative outlet quickly evolved into a deeper artistic practice. For Greg, painting became more than making art; it became a new language for understanding himself and connecting with others.

Ronnique Hawkins discovered her passion for art at an early age. She is a proud graduate from esteemed institutions such as Weist-Barron, The Sanford Meisner Intensive, the New York School for Film and Television, and the New York Film Academy’s Producing Program. Ronnique’s experiences in television, modeling, and fashion helped shape her global perspective. She went on to produce an Emmy-nominated film and founded the multicultural youth empowerment organization Learn My History (LMH) Foundation. A lifelong advocate, her work spans and supports various causes including peace initiatives, vulnerable communities, and awareness for both prostate and breast cancer. Affectionately known as “Ms. Ro” by her students, she is deeply inspired by how her journey, especially art—alongside the talents of multi-faith leaders and community partners—continues to transform lives through LMH, an intensively benefiting, unique, and growing youth platform for change.

Learn more at thesaacc.org

Date: Thursday, November 12, 2025
Time: 5:00 - 6:30 pm
Location: Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center

Laurie Maves has spent more than three decades exploring the emotional language of shape, color, and abstraction. A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a master’s degree in art therapy, she brings a unique perspective to painting shaped by a lifelong belief in the transformative power of creativity. Inspired by coastal landscapes, travel, and the natural world, Maves creates richly layered works where the quiet geometry of nature, repeated forms, color, and gesture invite moments of reflection and calm. Her paintings are held in private collections throughout the United States, valued for their ability to evoke serenity, connection, and personal meaning.

Learn more at lauriemavesart.com

Date: Thursday, December 17, 2026
Time: 5:00 - 6:30 pm
Location: Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center

Janet Roelle utilizes oil, ink, watercolor, acrylic, and cold wax to capture her vision of music and movement. Initially self-taught, she began community classes at the Flint Institute of Arts in 1978 before pausing her practice to dedicate herself to raising her special needs adopted children.

Returning to art in 2009, Roelle studied through mentorships with Sterling Edwards, Maxine Masterfield, David Slonim, Ron Hicks, Cat Tesla, and Marianne Mitchell. Inspired by playing orchestral music in her youth, and practicing ballet as an adult, her work creates visual harmony blending the melody of realism with the chords of abstraction.

Learn more at janetroelle.com

Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2027
Time: 5:00 - 6:30 pm
Location: Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center

Pearl Berger is a Sarasota-based abstract painter and psychotherapist who relocated to Florida from New York in 2022. Working primarily in oil and cold wax on birch wood panels she builds her paintings through layering, excavation, and reconstruction.

Berger maintains a warehouse studio where she moves between dozens of paintings simultaneously, often as part of a larger series. Strata, her ongoing body of work, explores accumulation, change, and the passage of time. Her background in psychotherapy informs her interest in the ways experience shapes our perceptions.

Pearl’s work has been exhibited in regional and national exhibitions and is held in private collections throughout the United States and internationally.

Learn more at pearl-abstracts.com

Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2027
Time: 5:00 - 6:30 pm
Location: Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center

Cheryl Taub is a Sarasota, Florida based expressionist painter whose work explores the emotional landscape of the human experience through acrylic painting and mixed-media collage.

She earned a master’s degree in art education and began her career teaching art and as a commercial artist.

Taub incorporates vintage photographs from both memory and observation, she creates figurative, landscape and urban compositions that balance expressive color, rich texture and layered storytelling.

A longtime member of Sarasota’s vibrant arts community, Taub maintains a studio with Creative Liberties Artist Studios and Galleries. She is represented by State of the Arts Gallery in Sarasota.

She has exhibited throughout the region, her work is included in numerous private collections, and she has received awards in juried exhibitions.

Learn more at cheryltaub.com

Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2027
Time: 5:00 - 6:30 pm
Location: Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center

Booker High School, a comprehensive learning facility, is home to the Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) program, which offers rigorous, pre-professional training in the arts in five disciplines: Dance, Digital Film & Motion Design, Music, Theatre, and Visual Art. In collaboration with Sarasota Orchestra, Booker VPA visual art students will present a collection of two-dimensional artwork from various genres.

Learn more at bookervpa.com/