{"id":120326,"date":"2026-01-16T08:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/120326\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T08:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:29:12","slug":"cape-coral-parkway-becomes-a-walk-through-gallery-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/120326\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Coral Parkway becomes a walk-through gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Attendees of the 41st Annual Cape Coral Art Festival meandered along Cape Coral Parkway over the weekend, where more than 300 vendors displayed their work. -CASEY BRADLEY GENT \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n

Visitors to this weekend\u2019s 41st Annual Cape Coral Art Festival saw a sea of white tents slowly come into focus as they crossed the bridge over the Caloosahatchee River into downtown Cape. \u00a0The festival, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Cape Coral, was open both Saturday and Sunday, Jan.10-11, showcasing the work of more than 300 artisans.\n<\/p>\n

Each artisan displayed his or her creations under a white tent lining Cape Coral Parkway, which was closed to traffic for the popular event from Del Prado to Southeast 15th Ave. While visitors and shoppers focused on a mighty tent village showcasing the work of gifted creators, the creators themselves focused on sharing the personal stories behind their creations.\n<\/p>\n

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Sharing images she has captured across multiple continents, Jane Axman stands inside of her Art Festival tent display, Saturday at the 41st Annual Cape Coral Art Fest. -CASEY BRADLEY GENT \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n

\u201cSomewhere in my collections of old photographs, there\u2019s a picture of me \u2013 as a toddler \u2013 wearing my dad\u2019s light meter,\u201d photographer Jane Axman shared. We grinned at the idea that photographers don\u2019t really need light meters anymore. Photographers need subjects. Jane Axman learned the love of photography from her father. \u201cI inherited his eye,\u201d she smiled, reminiscently. \u201cI do with wildlife what he did with portraits of people.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Axman has been an occasional vendor at the Cape Coral Art Fest for 20 years. Beneath her tent space are rows of wildlife images and several landscapes. Christina Jordan, a shopper leafing through Axman\u2019s plentiful images, ultimately settled on buying a photograph of palm trees at sunset, an image that looked as though it could have been captured right here in Southwest Florida. Homebase for Axman, however, is nowhere remotely near Cape Coral. She is a resident of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and has captured numerous images across multiple continents. Jordan is a yearly attendee of the Cape Coral Art Fest. \u201cI love this festival,\u201d she shared. \u201cI started coming four years ago, because I especially love the nighttime images.\u201d After completing her purchase from Axman, Jordan turned, cradling her newest artwork, and said, \u201cThe artwork here is always special.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

In the space next to Axman, vendor Ursula Perry told potential buyers that, in college, she failed physics. Although she failed physics, she became enchanted by the art of Alexander Calder, and her work, in Calder\u2019s medium, is what brings Perry to the Cape Coral Art Fest. Calder was an American artist and sculptor who popularized artwork and design with kinetic movement. Calder died in 1976. \u201cMy designs are based on physics,\u201d she shared. \u201cI just needed to get away from the textbooks and work with my hands.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

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Ursula Perry, an artist whose work is based in the physics of mobiles and stabiles, was on hand for the 41st Annual Cape Coral Art Fest over the weekend. CASEY BRADLEY GENT \u2013 FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n

Perry and her 29-year-old son, Gabriel, build mobiles and stabilizers. The colorful metal sculptures tip, turn and rotate, but always return to a point of balance. Year after year, Ursula and Gabriel return to the Cape Coral Art Fest from their home base in Woodstock, New York.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe keep coming back, because the buyers here seem to really like what we do,\u201d Perry shared. She laughed, adding, \u201cHowever, I\u2019m here at the festival today and Gabriel is out fishing!\u201d\n<\/p>\n

For blocks along Cape Coral Parkway, the artisans of the Cape Coral Art Fest represented all kinds of beauty. From the wildlife photography of Axman to the Perrys\u2019 fluid sculptures, there were additional crafters who specialized in acrylic paint, fiber art and mixed media. According to the Cape Coral Art Festival official website, www.capecoralartfestival.com<\/a>, the event draws 140,000 attendees each year \u2013 potential buyers who appreciate creativity and entrepreneurship. The festival is an excellent opportunity for shoppers to meet artists, and to potentially discuss ordering a custom design.\n<\/p>\n

Following the weekend\u2019s event, Festival Chair Brad Peska said, \u201cThe Rotary Club is ecstatic about the turnout of attendees this year.\u201d Peska\u2019s job was to oversee the details and administration of the Cape Coral Art Fest.\n<\/p>\n

Don McCullough is a fine art designer from the Orlando area. He creates sculptures by combining thousands of drops of lead-free pewter into dynamic birds, tarpon and turtles. He said, in a matter-of-fact tone, that no other artist in the country creates sculptures like he does.\n<\/p>\n

\u201c40 years ago, I asked a group of patent lawyers about patenting my process,\u201d McCullough explained. \u201cThe lawyers came back to me and said, \u2018No one else is melting down pewter and spiraling it like you are. Do you want to initiate a patent?\u2019 I told them, no. I dare someone else to replicate this.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

McCullough has tried to teach his technique to 24 proteges, but with no luck.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose I think like a 3D printer, and that can be stressful,\u201d the lifelong artist said, thoughtfully. As he took time to explain the process of working with pewter, melting it and designing sculptures, three shoppers stopped to handle McCullough\u2019s palm-sized turtle hatchlings.\n<\/p>\n

The unique designs feature small turtles that can be maneuvered in and out of their one-of-a-kind shiny silver shells. \u201c$62 dollars seems really good for this!\u201d One eager buyer exclaimed. McCullough also displays a book of his commissioned work, in case someone wants to order a sculpture that he hasn\u2019t yet designed. As part of his lengthy resume, McCullough shared that he did one commissioned piece for the NFL football hall-of-fame Peyton Manning.\n<\/p>\n

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Fine artist and sculpter, Don McCullough, displays one of his popular turtle hatchlings \u2013 handmade with miniscule drops of melted pewter. -CASEY BRADLEY GENT \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n

The 41st Cape Coral Art Festival was teeming with high-caliber artists like Don McCullough. \u00a0Specifically, the section of vendors set up directly in front of the Holiday Inn Express, on both sides of the median, featured a Premiere Artist Area. This area showcased artisans whose work has been awarded high merit by juries of their peers. Aubuchon Homes, a luxury home builder located in the Cape, proudly sponsored this exclusive section of the festival.\n<\/p>\n

Chairman Peska additionally credited the efforts of Vanessa Chavianno, who leads LIV Digital Marketing, a boutique advertising agency, for reaching the premier creators who participate in the Cape Coral event. Chavianno said, \u201cEvery year our applications open in May and close in December. Although we have a pretty good return rate of high-quality artists, we utilize the publication Sunshine Artist, which helps artists find top-tier festivals like this one. So, there will be room for new artists in 2027.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Chavianno said the event is always trying to grow its footprint. Along with artisan visibility, there are yearly business sponsorships, free nonprofit booth opportunities and food truck slots offered for the annual Cape Coral Art Festival.\n<\/p>\n

The Cape Coral Art Festival is typically held the second full weekend of January. With this schedule in mind, next year\u2019s event is predicted to be held Jan. 9-10, 2027.\n<\/p>\n

The 2026 event is now in the books. The white tent-tops and eclectic creators no longer line Cape Coral Parkway and traffic flows freely again. Multiple artists who participated, as well as the Cape Coral Rotary Club, shared their gratitude for show attendees and a community that shows up in support of art.\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Attendees of the 41st Annual Cape Coral Art Festival meandered along Cape Coral Parkway over the weekend, where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":{"0":"post-120326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-cape-coral","9":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","10":"tag-cape-coral-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}