Opening Night Reception: Fri, November 21, 2025 | 6:00-8:00PM
Exhibition Dates: November 21 – January 17 | Gallery Hours Fri, Sat, 10AM-2PM or by Appt.
Free admission
Narrative Constructs: The Politics of Perception, a two-person exhibition featuring Sarasota-based artists Alicia Lisa Brown and Aaron Board. Through richly detailed figurative paintings, both artists explore the enduring power of narrative art to convey personal and political truths. Drawing from history, memory, and imagination, their works engage with themes of identity, vulnerability, and social perception—blending realism with symbolic and psychological depth. In this exhibition, Brown and Board use the language of representation not only to tell stories, but to question the systems behind what—and who—we see.
Panel Discussion: Narrative Constructs – The Politics of Perception
Sat, January 17, 2026 | 5:00–6:00PM | Admission: Members $10 Not-yet-members $20
This interdisciplinary panel brings together visual artists Alicia Brown and Aaron Board, authors Marika Lindholm and Alicia Lisa Brown, and trauma-informed psychologist Andy Blanch (SRQ Strong) for a wide-ranging conversation on the significance of storytelling across mediums. From emotional development and memory to social empathy and cultural critique, the discussion will explore how stories shape our understanding of the world—and our place in it.
ARTIST BIOS
Alicia Lisa Brown is a contemporary realist painter, originally from St. Ann, Jamaica. She holds a BFA in Painting, an Art Education degree from Edna Manley College and an MFA in Painting from the New York Academy of Art. She received the Dawn Scott Memorial award from the Jamaica Biennial, two Elizabeth Foundation Grants , the Joan Brady Foundation Grant and LCU Foundation Grants. Alicia has attended residencies at the Leipzig International Art Program (Germany), Cuttyhunk Island Artists’ residency (Massachusetts), and Elsewhere artists’ residency (Colorado). Brown has exhibited both locally and internationally in shows including the 2021 and 2017 Jamaica Biennial (Jamaica), Prizm Art Fair (Miami), Jamaica making: Theresa Roberts Art Collection, Victoria Gallery and Museum (London) Painting the Figure Now Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art (USA). She has had a solo show at Studio 174 in Kingston, Jamaica (2016), Virago Gallery, Seattle Washington (2019) and UUU Art Collective, Rochester, NY (2022). Her work has been featured in Beautiful Bizarre magazine, American Art Collector, Painting the Figure Now 2019 magazine, SHOUT MIAMI magazine, ARTIT voice of Artists Magazine, Caribbean Quarterly Journal and other publications. Her work is in notable collections such as the Bennet Collection of Women Realists and other private collections.
Aaron Board (b. 1971, Pontiac, Michigan) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work centers on the human figure and its relationship to the natural world. With a background in both anatomical and botanical studies, Board integrates detailed renderings of plants as metaphorical and compositional elements in his figurative compositions.
Currently working primarily in colored pencil, he finds the medium ideal for achieving the precision and expressiveness he seeks—particularly in capturing both human and botanical forms. His style has evolved over time from photo-realist influences to a more expressive, imperfect figuration that embraces spontaneity and character.
For over two decades, Board has taught anatomy for artists at Ringling College of Art and Design, a practice that has deeply informed his ability to construct figures from imagination. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States, as well as in Canada and Europe. Influenced by artists like Peter Howson and Lisa Yuskavage, Board aims to create figuration that balances humor and pathos, offering images that are both emotionally resonant and visually compelling.
