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The Appleton Museum of Art, ��������, offers free admission on the first Saturday of each month with the popular Free First Saturday series.

The next Free First Saturday is Aug. 5. From 10 a.m.-5 p.m., visitors can enjoy free admission to see several recently opened exhibitions, including “The Unscene South: Charles Eady Revisits History.” At 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Eady will give free tours of his solo exhibition, featuring more than 20 mixed-media works that explore the history of free Blacks in the South prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. Learn directly from the artist with the opportunity to ask questions. Tours are free and will meet in the exhibition on the second floor.

Other special exhibitions on view include “Eternal Summer: Works from the Permanent Collection” and “Caught Up in History and Captured on Film: Randy Batista’s Photographs of Florida and Cuba.” Scuba Steve’s Snack Shack food truck will be on-site throughout the day.

The Appleton Museum, Artspace and Store are open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. A campus of the ��������, the Appleton Museum of Art is located at 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, east of downtown on SR 40 (exit 352 east off I-75 or exit 268 west off I-95). Parking is free. For more information, call 352-291-4455 or visit

 

The �������� invites anyone thinking about college to an open house on Thursday, July 27, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. in the Charles S. Dean Sr. Educational Center at the �������� Wilton Simpson Citrus Campus, 3800 S. Lecanto Highway, Lecanto.

Future students are encouraged to tour the campus and learn about more than 150 academic pathways, including 70 job-training programs. Attendees can get help with admission and financial aid and register for the fall semester, which begins Aug. 14.

Everyone who completes an admissions application at the event will have the $30 fee waived and will receive a �������� T-shirt.

Attendees are encouraged to register at . For more information, call 352-746-6721, ext. 6179.

The �������� invites anyone thinking about college to an open house on Thursday, July 20, from 2-5 p.m. at the �������� Jack Wilkinson Levy Campus, 15390 N.W. Highway 19, Chiefland.

Future students are encouraged to tour the campus and learn about more than 150 academic pathways, including 70 job-training programs. Attendees can get help with admission and financial aid and register for the fall semester, which begins Aug. 14.

Everyone who completes an admissions application at the event will have the $30 fee waived and will receive a �������� T-shirt.

Attendees are encouraged to register at . For more information, call 352-658-4077, ext. 2118.

The �������� invites anyone thinking about college to an open house on Wednesday, July 19, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., at the �������� Ocala Campus Ewers Century Center, 3001 S.W. College Road, Ocala.

Future students are encouraged to tour the campus and learn about more than 150 academic pathways, including 70 job-training programs. Attendees can get help with admission and financial aid for the fall semester, which begins Aug. 14.

Everyone who completes an admissions application at the event will have the $30 fee waived.

A virtual open house will also be offered on Wednesday, Aug. 2, from 10-11:30 a.m. on Zoom.

Attendees are encouraged to register at . For more information, call 352-873-5800, ext. 1379.

The �������� Webber Gallery presents “The Gap Between Art and Life” on view Aug. 7-Sept. 7. This exhibition is the Webber Gallery’s inaugural��competitive exhibition of installation art.

After reviewing 89 submitted entries, the jury panel selected eight diverse artworks by four different artists that will allow visitors to interact with the gallery space in new and unique ways. The jury panel was made up of Leslie Hammond, president of Artistic Eye Fine Art Services, and Victoria Billig, assistant director of the Appleton Museum of Art.

“It was an honor to be on the selection committee for the Webber Gallery’s first biennial of installation art,” Billig said. “As a medium that is generally represented less in museums and galleries, particularly in our region, “The Gap Between Art and Life” shines a light on captivating, immersive works of art created by installation artists from across the United States.”

An opening reception will be held Friday, Aug. 25, 5-7 p.m. Webber Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday and admission is free. The Webber Gallery is located at the �������� Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road. For more information, visit or call 352-854-2322, ext. 1664.

The Appleton Museum of Art, ��������, invites the community to participate in the ninth annual Mobile Photography Contest and Exhibition. Any photo captured on a mobile device is eligible, and entries will be accepted July 1-31.

The Appleton’s annual contest features new categories to inspire both novice and experienced mobile photographers. Submissions will be juried by Jenny Eggers of Jenny E. Photography. Prizes will be awarded in each category and all entries will be on view in an exhibition at the Appleton from Aug. 22-Sept. 24. This contest is open to all ages. No experience is necessary and there is no fee to enter. Participants may submit one photo in each category.

Categories and Instructions

Summer Scenes

What does summer look like to you? From ice-cold watermelon to stormy or sunny landscapes, send us your favorite summer-inspired snapshot.

 

My Kid Took That

Let the little ones in your life take the lead in this category! Show us their best or silliest mobile photo. Selfies are allowed!

 

Patterns

Polka dots, plaids, stripes, chevron and more — show us how patterns have inspired your photography. Don’t be afraid to get creative!

 

Light and Shadow

Light can illuminate a subject or create shadows to communicate a mood — scary, striking or otherwise. Show us how light and/or shadow has inspired your mobile photography.

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Entries must be taken with a mobile device (mobile phone or tablet); photos taken with film or digital cameras will not be accepted.

��From July 1-31, email photos to AppletonMuseum@cf.edu; include the category in the subject line and your full name in the body of the email. Photos must be sent via email. Entries submitted by mail or through Facebook or other social media will not be accepted.

Submitting to more than one category? Please send separate emails for each category. And remember, only one photo per category will be accepted.

Entries will be juried, and winning photos will be selected based on creativity, quality, responsiveness to the category and overall impact. Winners will be notified before announcements are made on social media. All entries will be printed and displayed in the museum. For ease of printing, photos will be cropped by the Appleton to 4 x 4 in. or 4 x 6 in.; no guarantees for special printing of panoramas.

Prizes will be shipped or available for pickup at the museum. Winners must provide a U.S. shipping address to request the prize by mail.

��Exhibition Dates: Aug. 22-Sept. 24, 2023

Regular museum admission fees apply to see this exhibition. Admission is free on Sept. 2 as part of the monthly Free First Saturday program.

��The Appleton Museum, Artspace and Store are open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. A campus of the ��������, the Appleton Museum of Art is located at 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, east of downtown on SR 40 (exit 352 east off I-75 or exit 268 west off I-95). Parking is free. For more information, call 352-291-4455 or visit

The Appleton Museum of Art, ��������, will open two new solo exhibitions on July 1: “The Unscene South: Charles Eady Revisits History” and “Caught Up in History and Captured on Film: Randy Batista’s Photographs of Florida and Cuba.” Both shows will remain on view through Jan. 28, 2024.

In the second-floor Modern & Contemporary Galleries, “The Unscene South” will feature 25 paintings and mixed-media works by Ocala-based artist Charles Eady. Eady was born in South Carolina, and following his graduation from Claflin University with a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education, he has gone on to be an award-winning artist, author and educator who has exhibited both nationally and internationally. Eady was one of only five recipients of the 2022 State Teaching Artist Residency (STAR) — a program that honors Florida public school art educators.

The work featured in “The Unscene South” is inspired by the history of free Blacks in the South prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. The term “free Blacks” was used pre-Civil War as a designation identifying those who were free — free to live, work and own businesses and property.

Several of Eady’s works are dedicated to the sport of horse racing, introduced to America during colonial times (1492-1763). It is the longest running sport in America, and Eady’s work highlights the lesser-known fact that many of the first jockeys were Black Americans.

“In 1773, free people of color were able to petition for, and receive, land grants,” Eady wrote. “The amount of land they acquired was dependent on how many people resided within the household. I imagined how a pre-Revolutionary War jockey might envision horse racing as their ‘grant.’ Many were able to take advantage of the freedom horse racing ‘granted.’”

Eady will be at the Appleton Museum of Art on Aug. 5 for Free First Saturday to give two free tours of “The Unscene South.” Tours are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and will meet inside the exhibition.

In the Appleton’s Balcony Gallery for Florida Artists, see Gainesville-based photographer Randy Batista’s solo exhibition, “Caught Up in History and Captured on Film.” Batista uses his lens to document his life and travel adventures. Comprised of silver-gelatin prints developed from film, the images in this show focus on Florida and Cuba — two places that have had a profound impact on the artist. Having lived in both locations, the artist’s awareness of place, time and cultural heritage are evident in his quiet but alluring street photography, landscapes and portraits.

With a Leica 24 mm lens, Batista captured club members of Centro Espanol de Tampa (The Spanish Center of Tampa) and their daily lives that Batista says highlights “communal times together smoking, drinking, newspaper reading, enjoying ice cream and socializing via dominoes and card games.” The photographer notes that he purposefully shot at low angles, such as table level, to capture being at the tables with these men. Some of the men didn’t react, while others either did quick poses or held newspapers up to cover their faces.

Batista’s photographs in Cuba were taken during various trips to places including Havana and the ancestral countryside of his youth. During these travels, Batista explained, he was a street photographer either walking about or riding his bicycle while shooting. He would stop and chat with people while taking their portraits, capturing images of cityscapes and rural landscapes, as well.

Visit our special exhibitions with no admission fee on the first Saturday of each month. Check our website for other special programming planned on Free First Saturdays.

The Appleton Museum, Artspace and Store are open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. Admission is free on the first Saturday of each month. A campus of the ��������, the Appleton Museum of Art is located at 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, east of downtown on SR 40 (exit 352 east off I-75 or exit 268 west off I-95). Parking is free. For more information, call 352-291-4455 or visit

On June 21, Dr. Jim Henningsen, president of the ��������, presented Ocala Police Department Chief Mike Balken with a check for $7,070.16 to help support the police department in accordance with the Open Door Grant Program.

The Open Door Grant Program was created by the Florida Legislature in 2021 to create and sustain a demand-driven supply of credentialed workers for high-demand occupations and expand the affordability of workforce training and credentialing.

�������� was the recipient of $267,453 in Open Door funding and has disbursed funds by partnering with law enforcement agencies including the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the Ocala Police Department, which are experiencing an increased need for qualified, well-trained law enforcement personnel. The grant funds support law enforcement recruits attaining certification through the Criminal Justice Institute at �������� by helping to reduce expenses and barriers to completion and increase the number of qualified graduates to fill open law enforcement jobs.

“The Ocala Police Department is a valued partner in ��������’s endeavor to train future law enforcement officers,” said Dr. Jennifer Fryns, associate vice president of career and professional programs. “We are thrilled to have been awarded funding to help offset the expense of that training and to further strengthen that partnership.”

To learn more about ��������, visit