Deborah Butterfield’s love of horses and her amazing talent as a sculptor are on full display at the Vero Beach Museum of Art now through June 4. Whether or not her birth date, on the same day as the 1949 Kentucky Derby, had some mystical influence on her artistic focus, she has mastered a style wherein she employs found items such as wood and scrap metal to fashion three-dimensional images of horses, forming them, without sketches or models, into life-size creatures imbued with an amazing sense off animation. When you look at one of the horses, even close-up and squinting, you’d swear it was made out of branches. Butterfield studied at the University of California under Manuel Neri, known for his life-size figurative sculptures, and his association with the Bay Area Figurative Movement in the 1960s. Butterfield’s horses have found homes in the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Neuberger Museum of Art, and the Israeli Museum of Art in Tel Aviv, among others, and her many honors include a National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship and a Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship.
“Artful Animals” is the delightful exhibition currently on view at downtown Vero’s Gallery 14. You’ll be charmed by the sweet visages and antics rendered by the Gallery 14’s talented owner/artists: Edgardo Abello, Lila Blakeslee, Barbara du Pont, Beth-Anne Fairchild, Mary Ann Hall, Virginia Knapp, Barbara Landry, Deborah Morrell Polackwich, Dorothy Napp Schindel and Shelley Weltman; and represented artists: Francis Mesaros, Carol Staub, Diane Feuer, Terry Green, Viola Pace Knudsen, Michael Robinson, Joan Earnhart, Mia Lindberg and Walford Campbell. A portion of each sale will be donated to Indian River Community Cats, and Dogs and Cats Forever no-kill shelter, both 501(C)3 organizations. “Artful Animals” runs through May 26. Hours are Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Go wading without getting your feet wet this Sunday at 7 p.m. when the Treasure Coast Chorale, an 80-voice community chorus, presents its final concert of the season, “Wade in the Water.” Under the direction of Dr. Michael Carter and accompanied by Judy Carter and Brady Johnson, the Chorale will perform songs about rivers and oceans, including “Shenandoah”; music from the Disney movie “The Little Mermaid”; folk songs such as “The Erie Canal” and “The Water is Wide”; and water music from Canada and Ireland. Chorale performances take place at the First Baptist Church, which offers excellent acoustics and media capabilities. The concert is free.
Riverside Theatre calls its very popular Comedy Zone experience “wild, untamed and hilarious,” and audience responses support that assessment. These live, stand-up shows are always a double-dip cone of comedy, and this Friday and Saturday, the laughs will be churned up by Cam Bertrand and Mark Klein. Bertrand, in his early 20s, has already scored wins in comedy competitions, and performs regularly in local venues. Bertrand won the 2016 Best of the Bay Award for Best Male Comedian from Tampa’s online entertainment and activities magazine Creative Loafing, and made it to the finals in the 2015 Florida’s Funniest competition, winning the Side Splitters Comedy Tournament over 64 other comedians. A rapid-fire delivery and a knack for tailoring his show to his audiences – from cruise ships to corporate board rooms – has made Mark Klein a go-to, stand-up laugh man during 30 years of experience. He’s done shows for banking CEOs and performed at a women’s prison. To put even more smiles on your face, the Comedy Zone offers two full bars and a menu that includes fire-grilled sandwiches and lots of other tempting items. Show times are 7:30
