An afternoon of Live Music & Art in Coconut Grove (Sunday, Mar 14)

It’s the Grove the way the Grove once was. Like an exotic bloom that flowers but once a year, the wild blossom unfolds its petals once more: the twelfth annual celebration of the original Gifford Lane Art Stroll will burst into color and lilting music along one usually sleepy little block of Gifford Lane between Oak and Day

Avenues (3200 block) on Sunday, March 14^th from 12 noon to five o’clock.

The event features more than sixty visual artists displaying their works on the fences and in the front yards along the cute little lane, including a number of the finest artists in the region.

Sculpture, portraits, tile mosaics, large abstract paintings, photography, mixed media, and jewelry, as well as several specific art forms that have no name will be displayed along the shady lane n the informal tropical setting.

The Art Stroll has long established a strong reputation for first rate art that sells at amazingly affordable prices. Unlike some other street festivals, the Stroll is known among the artist community as a place where artists really come to sell and people come to buy. Artists line up to get in this show. All sorts of folks show up: people from the next block, celebrities from the Beach, well-known City politicians, sports stars, and now people from out of state are showing up for what is called one cool art party.

Some neighbors open their homes to perfect strangers who want to just hang out and chat or maybe use the rest room or discuss Obama’s health plan.

This is one amazing place to buy tropical art and tuck it under your arm, but it is an even more remarkable place to just chill, sip endless glasses of intoxicating cucumber punch, or eat grilled shrimp on big skewers, have home cooked burgers, and participate in long leisurely political or philosophical conversations with absolute strangers, and then do some mean dancing in the street, and then dance a little more.

The live music is nonstop all afternoon and the tunes are sweet, sweeter, and sweetest. In addition to the Coconut Grove Juggling Exchange, there will also be a number of popular local bands appearing, including the winners of the 2009 QOOL Shows Award for Best Pop Band, The Coffee House Gypsies, performing songs from their last two albums from 12 noon until 2:00 PM. Additionally, several other well-known area groups are expected to drop by and jam. There is plenty of casual street dancing as the party progresses. Live music, old style.

The nearly legendary little Art Stroll continues a Grove tradition of wild and crazy artists who defy convention to bring people together in the magical clearing under the trees. More than a decade ago, a half-dozen active artists lived on this block of Gifford. They started the tradition. Most of them have now moved away but a hearty band of neighbors—several dozen strong–meet frequently to carry on this most unlikely of all arts festivals.

Almost the only way you are going to hear about the Gifford Lane Art Stroll is by word of mouth—they don’t advertise and each year thousands of people attend over the course of the afternoon. People who knew the Grove decades ago swear this is the closest thing you’re ever going to experience that looks and feels just exactly like the old Grove the way it was.

“We only have the Art Stroll one afternoon a year,” says founder Trina Collins, “but we now have residents who have purchased homes on the block because of the Art Stroll. It is all done by resident volunteers. In the months of January through March we have potluck suppers with 25 or thirty folks in people’s homes and have some amazing food and planning sessions. It is really quite remarkable how this little festival has brought so many diverse neighbors together. We all know each other as a result of this. It has made us a community. The Gifford Lane Art Stroll is a real friendly afternoon in Coconut Grove. Everybody should come out and buy some art and have some cucumber punch.”

Once again, all of the participating artists at the Art Stroll will be giving a percentage of their sales to two Grove charities—this percentage will be added to contributions made by the public and neighbors living on the block. The two benefiting Grove charities are the St. Stephen’s AIDS Ministry and the St. Alban’s Day Care Center in the Village West. Each year, the Art Stroll donates 100% of the proceeds to the charities. Last year more than $4,000 cash was donated. More than $30,000 has been contributed to Grove charities since the Art Stroll began.

The Gifford Lane Art Stroll promises to be a good hearted afternoon of delights under the leafy canopy on Sunday, March 14 @ 12 noon till 5:00 p.m. Be sure to be there...