Wekiva Island offers sneak peek at new gallery with traveling exhibition

Pandemic art show will debut during plein air art event starting February 22

ORLANDO, Fla.2021-Feb-23 — /EPR Network/ — With such a picturesque setting on the beautiful Wekiva River, it makes sense that Wekiva Island has been a longtime haven for the fine arts. The riverside oasis will take that to the next level starting February 22 as three art efforts come together.

Wekiva Island will offer patrons a sneak peek at its upcoming gallery space, Gallery CERO, with a traveling exhibition from The Great American Paint In, a project meant to document the pandemic through art. The exhibition will align with the Wekiva Paint Out, an annual celebration of plein air art.

“Art is a one of our core pillars at Wekiva Island,” said Bill Weinaug, the owner of Wekiva Island and Gallery CERO and founder of The Great American Paint In. “This week will truly show how we are living that out. I am extremely excited to see all three of these projects come together and look forward to being part of sharing the incredible works that have come through them.”

Weinaug started The Great American Paint In with his daughter, Ashley, during the pandemic as an online effort meant to bring artists and patrons together and to document the unique moment in history through art. Artists could submit any work to the juried project that told their pandemic story, and works are for sale at www.thegreatpaint-in.com.

As spaces were able to safely reopen, The Great American Paint In followed suit with its traveling exhibition, which debuted in upstate New York. Now, the exhibition will come home, appearing at Gallery CERO itself.

The exhibition features a dynamic digital presentation of art from across the United States, as well as a physical works from Florida artists Peter Pettegrew and Mary Jane Volkmann.

The show is the first of many to come, serving as a preview to art lovers for the physical gallery space under construction at Wekiva Island. Gallery CERO will open in 2021, and the exhibition will then be on display in the gallery’s library.

The exhibition will add to the art offerings that week at Wekiva Island, which will also be hosting the 15th annual Wekiva Paint Out from Feb. 22 to 27. The Wekiva Paint Out draws plein air artists from Florida and beyond for a week-long celebration of art. Artists paint at Wekiva Island, the state park and surrounding areas, producing a gallery’s worth of work that guests can view and purchase.

This year, for the first time, pieces will also be available for purchase online through Gallery CERO.

The full schedule for the Wekiva Paint Out is available at wekivapaintout.com. More information about The Great American Paint In is available at www.thegreatpaint-in.com. More information about Gallery CERO is available at gallerycero.com.

About The Great American Paint In

The vision of The Great American Paint In is to allow America’s great artists to share their experience during the 2020 world pandemic through their work to inspire other artists, collectors and the community. The project will collect works of art on its website, www.thegreatpaint-in.com, to create a marketplace for the pieces. The project will also create an upscale book to document this moment in history. The Great American Paint In is a project of art collectors Bill and Mary Weinaug. The two own a riverside oasis, Wekiva Island, and a soon to open art gallery there, Gallery CERO. Each year they also sponsor and run a “en plein air” event called the Wekiva Paint Out. This special project, therefore, is referred to as “paint in”, which is an event where artists paint within a space or in an enclosed environment during a period of time for the purpose of completing paintings of their life from their life. For more information, visit www.thegreatpaint-in.com, or follow the project on social media on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

About Gallery CERO

Gallery CERO is a unique art gallery space located north of Orlando, Fla., overlooking the Wekiva River. Owned by Bill and Mary Weinaug, the space serves to represent artists and showcase natural works from around the world. It also hosts art classes, special events, exhibitions, projects, educational programs and more. Gallery CERO is located at Wekiva Island, a riverside oasis dedicated to sustainability, education and art. The gallery takes its name from Wekiva Island’s vow to go carbon neutral by 2030 by focusing on Conservation, Efficiency, Renewables and Offset. It aims to show patrons unique and beautiful works just as Wekiva Island showcases the unique and natural beauty of the Wekiva River. For more information about Gallery CERO, visit gallerycero.com.

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