The Mennello Museum of American Art’s Our Orlando exhibition, a series first launched in the wake of the Pulse nightclub tragedy, will this year include work by Tasanee Durrett, Martha Jo Mahoney and Mado Smith. Shown are Something in My Soul by Mahoney and Dawn by Smith.
In 2017, the Mennello Museum of American Art was not showing work by local artists in its main exhibition program. So Shannon Fitzgerald, executive director, felt compelled to do something about it—especially considering the timing.
After all, the community was still healing from the Pulse nightclub tragedy in 2016—healing that was aided significantly by the work of local emerging artists. Notes Fitzgerald: “Artists gave Orlando a huge hug at a difficult time, shaping our landscape with a visual fabric of kindness and generosity that resonated publicly.”
From that sense of giving back, the concept of Our Orlando was born. The first exhibition, which featured five emerging artists, was held in 2017. The fourth in the ongoing series—and the first since 2021—is slated for May 15 to August 16.
Unlike previous years, however, this incarnation won’t solely focus on emerging artists. Fitzgerald says she wanted to include three very different artists whose highly focused practices result in pieces that call for sharing and deep contemplation.
So the participating artists will include Tasanee Durrett, Martha Jo Mahoney and Mado Smith. The work of both Durrett and Smith was featured last year in the City of Orlando’s multifaceted Art Pollination project, which was funded through a $1 million grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge.
Durrett explores the intersection of ethnobotany, history, identity and psychology within the Black Diaspora through continuous line portraiture. Mahoney evokes emotive memories of landscapes and the natural world by painting abstracted, ephemeral elements that come into being, evolve and transform in dynamic color.
Smith is a skilled painter, illustrator and photographer who is inspired by music, symbolism, abstract expressionism, science and alchemy. From mural work to smaller, more intimate paintings, he creates striking and positive juxtapositions where both the human figure and its environment are honored, illuminated and slightly exaggerated for emphasis.
Says Fitzgerald: “These artists represent a broad range of talent and artistry among Orlando’s exceptional arts community, each employing their own methods of abstraction that have evolved over individual careers.”
The Mennello Museum of American Art is located at 900 East Princeton Street, Orlando, in Loch Haven Cultural Park. For more information, visit mennellomuseum.org or call 407.246.4278
