Art Wars

To resident and visitor alike, there's no question that Naples is an arty town. a stroll along gallery-lined Fifth or Broad Avenue, a weekend spent at a colorful arts festival, or, if you're fortunate, a peek inside the homes of one of the city's sophisticated art collectors will tell you that.

But what type of an art town, exactly? That, of course, depends on whom you talk to.

Two newsworthy events last summer helped bring that question into the spotlight. One was the designation by American Style magazine of Naples as one of the Top Ten Great Destinations to Watch in terms of the visual arts. The other was the acrimonious breach at the Naples Art Association's von Liebig Art Center that left half of the center's board members turning in their resignations.

First, a look at the American Style trophy. This was not, strictly speaking, an editorial assessment. Rather, subscriber and online votes determine the names on the magazine's list. (American Style, by the way, focuses its attention more on crafts than fine arts.) That means somebody out there likes Naples; and with roughly 100 art galleries of all stripes in the area and a whopping 25 arts festivals taking place here each year, it's easy to see why. Naples is a town bursting at the seams with art.

That thirst for art was in part what led to the eruption at the von Liebig. Members on both sides of the divide there agree on one thing: The five-year-old center, located on Park Street downtown, needed more room. Its adult-education classes, especially sculpting and ceramics, had nowhere to grow. Without adequate classroom space, the center was losing its popular-and profitable-adult classes to other venues.

It was the discussion of how to provide that space that led to a fundamental split among the center's board. One group was eager to listen to proposals from a Naples Art Association task force led by Mechlin Moore, at the behest of the center's CEO Barbara Hill and several board members, to consider a partnership with Florida Gulf Coast University, which was already making plans for a new arts complex downtown. Others leaned in the direction of purchasing the nearby Woman's Club property at a cost of just over $2 million, saying expansion there would be sufficient for the NAA's future and would help preserve the organization's independence.

As the story played out almost daily in the Naples Daily News, however, it soon became apparent that the difference of opinion within the von Liebig's membership extended beyond its expansion plans. At one end of the spectrum were Hill and the board members who felt that Hill had done a good job in presenting exhibitions by artists with regional and national credentials and who were looking ahead to more of the same. At the other: members who felt that the von Liebig was headed in the wrong direction, away from serving its members, many of them artists.

"The vision of some of the board members had changed," is the way current NAA president Pat Scoville (who was not in that position at the time of the board resignations) puts it. "Some were leaning more toward a museum concept. Some wanted to make the focus here international shows. But the original charter of the von Liebig designated a community arts center, and many wanted to maintain that educational concept." Those with this point of view did not see exhibitions at the center as the primary focus, although, says Scoville, "While we're looking to expand our studio space for instruction, we still certainly want exhibition space."

For resigning board member Joan Salke, an art collector who with her husband, Michael, was selected a few years ago as one of America's top 100 collectors by Art & Antiques magazine, it was a case of

striving to reach a new level of excellence. "We felt very strongly that we could offer Naples a lot more, and that it was our duty," she says. "We were starting to make some great strides, with world-renowned speakers, juried shows and building a collection, along with looking at lending works to the Cleveland Clinic and the library. We were spreading the word. People who come to Naples need to be exposed to more than what local painters are doing. We had some innovative ideas."

Among those ideas: the partnership with FGCU that sparked all the debate. "They approached us," says Salke. "And we were in the early stages of discussion whether or not a partnership could be formed. We simply voted to discuss it. But those who keep the organization insulated went absolutely out of their minds, as far as I'm concerned. And it grew because the Naples Daily News did a horrific job of reporting the cir-

cumstances." So much so, in the opinion of Salke and the other board members who eventually resigned, that they took out an ad in the newspaper to protest inaccuracies and outline the objectives they felt had been misrepresented.

"They're now in a total condition of disarray," says Salke of the von Liebig's board of directors. "And the organization has taken 50 steps backward. We lost the war-so far. I don't know what will happen next. Maybe people will wake up and smell the coffee."

Naturally, Scoville would contest the claim that the von Liebig is in disarray. At press time, she and a search committee were interviewing candidates to fill the position left vacant by Hill's departure. They were also planning a "visioning process" to determine the future direction of the center. Still on the agenda: the possible purchase of that Woman's Club property, a purchase that would require a capital campaign. With the loss of the disaffected board members (and some uncertainty about the role major donor Suzanne von Liebig will play in the center's future), is there enough financial support for such a move? "We hope so," says Scoville. "We have to do some innovative things to raise money."

Mechlin moore, who's now project planning director for FGCU's downtown project, tentatively called the Naples Center for Learning and Culture, says the university will press on with its plans to expand into Naples with an arts complex. The idea, which first grew out of the need to find more space for the university's popular Renaissance Academy continuing-education programs, would have made sense with the von Liebig connection, he says.

"The present building would have been primarily for educational activities," he says. "It would also have hosted members' shows. And the new space would have been for visiting shows and scholars, including a lecture hall. The advantages to the von Liebig were very clear. There's a state-funded program that allows for any private donations to the university for capital purposes to be matched dollar for dollar. There was a very strong group at the NAA that was enthusiastic and supportive. With the other group, my take was that they were concerned the university would take over and the von Liebig would be swallowed up, and that the needs of local artists would not be served."

Now that FGCU is moving ahead to acquire land for its center, two sites remain under consideration. One is the Grand Central Station redevelopment project at the corner of Goodlette and U.S. 41. Moore would not reveal the other site, also in Old Naples. But he promised announcement of a decision within a "reasonably short period of time."

Plans for FGCU's 50,000-square-foot center include classrooms and computer labs on the upper floor for the Renaissance Academy and other classes; and on the first floor, a grand lobby for community receptions, a 500-seat lecture hall acoustically designed for chamber music, and approximately 2,000 square feet for a small bookstore and support staff for a museum. The museum itself would occupy 5,000 square feet (by comparison, the von Liebig's exhibition space is about 1,800 square feet) and would "probably" but not necessarily be devoted to contemporary art.

"That could depend on the donor," Moore says. "We have a lead donor now who has contributed substantially [toward the concert-hall element of the project]. The museum space would be for traveling and juried shows and possibly a permanent collection. There's no single facility that offers the diverse multi-use this facility would offer. We could serve a wider community, bring in more visitors and greatly enhance the cultural stature of Naples." The best-case timeline? Moore says the needed major gifts may be in hand by December and the grant application for those matching state dollars filed in the spring of 2005, meaning the $30 million project could be complete sometime in 2007. Of that amount, $13 million will need to come from private donations (approximately $4 million of that to help form an endowment). Although FGCU has not yet begun a capital campaign, Moore says, "We've been talking to major donors, and there's a considerable amount of interest. I'm very optimistic."

Of course, so far all this discussion has avoided the elephant in the sitting room: the already existing Naples Museum of Art, part of the Philharmonic Center complex.

Of the effect FCGU's plans for coming into north Naples might have on the Naples Museum, the Phil's CEO, Myra Daniels, says, "We've worked very hard on this museum, and we have a wonderful group of supporters. Once you have something that looks easy, everyone else wants to do it. But a museum is also a business. It needs nurturing and patience, and a lot of maintenance. All I know about [this plan] is what I read in the papers, so I have to ask, have they done a study? What is their background in the arts and in business? The economy is not a very giving one at this time. Naples is a small town, and people are going to get confused" about whom to support.