Off The Beaten Path is an event created by a federation of practicing artists with a shared purpose and vision. The group’s mission statement is to “showcase and increase awareness and appreciation of Central Florida’s finest professional and emerging artists, as well as cultural institutions that are ‘off the beaten path’.”
John Wilton, an artist and retired Daytona State College visual arts instructor, has been on the grassroots steering committee to make the tour a reality, first for West Volusia and now East Volusia.
“Lake County started this studio tour, this was their seventh tour,” Mr. Wilton said. “Their vision was to make it a Central Florida endeavor. There were some of us that had been thinking about this in Deland, so we finally said let’s go ahead and do it. West Volusia joined up with them and used their model for this.”
The West Volusia Off The Beaten Path Florida Arts Tour was Feb. 24-25. Visitors saw 16 artists in 14 different studios.
Mr. Wilton lives in Deland and works with mixed mediums, multiple disciplines, contemporary, and pop art.
“I am involved to promote personal tourism in Deland,” he said. “The overall goal for the artists is to get exposure and to have people come out and see and hopefully purchase their work. The goal for the visitor is how often are you invited into an artist’s studio to see how they make it, where they make it, the tools, the process. We feel it is really quite an opportunity for the cultural adventurer to come out and look and see what we do and how we do it.”
For a tour guide or more information, visit floridaartstour.com.
By Diane M. Carey dcarey@hometownnewsol.com
