By Jennifer J.H. Pierce
May 19, 2023
ArtServe | ArtServe.org
Every day in Broward County, not-so-ordinary people work without expectation catalyzing opportunities for others to ultimately converge, connect and thrive, particularly in the arts. When Fort Lauderdale’s ArtServe set out to capture how they create that impact, their stories were more rewarding than anyone had ever dreamed.
On Friday, May 19, 2023, ArtServe, one of the nation’s longest-standing arts incubators, will hold its inaugural “Impact Awards” from 6 PM to 9 PM to honor the most transformative and influential artists and arts supporters in local media, the community, business, and philanthropy.
“We quickly realized the common thread shared by our inaugural honorees is how they’ve gathered people to make a difference through the arts,” ArtServe Executive Director Jason Hughes said. “In South Florida’s creative industries, ArtServe affords all types of artists the opportunity to make an impact.”
Meet the 2023 ArtServe Impact Award winners here:
“I’m Just Someone Who Learned Art at the Hardware Store”
The same month COVID first struck, retired Lauderhill police officer Yvonne Pubien had just opened “Nailed It DIY Studio Fort Lauderdale,” part of a growing national franchise offering do-it-yourself hands-on arts and crafts projects, most of them wood-based.
“We never got the business benefit from the momentum of a grand opening,” Pubien recalls. As the company’s only minority female franchisee, she nevertheless forged ahead, pivoting to virtual classes and pre-packaged pre-cut wood, paints and instructions she hand-delivered or shipped to attendees.
She quickly discovered that DIY’s typical northern themes like country barns didn’t have the same appeal in Broward County as they did elsewhere. She reached out to ArtServe artists to poll them on what type of images they thought were most representative of local culture. With the support of DIY’s corporate office, she worked with the Children’s Services Council of Broward on a more formal survey. Bolstered by the results, DIY quickly changed its product offerings to have a more diverse appeal, both in South Florida and nationwide.
Pubien didn’t think of herself as an artist, so when she opened her studio, she prepared by attending a free woodworking class at the local hardware store, where she learned to select and cut wood, use a stencil and apply paint. Now, she teaches others to do it.
“It’s always amazing to me that people who visit my studio come to learn from me and then they come back,” she said. “I’m not Picasso, but I can show them how to create something.”
From her years in law enforcement, Pubien knew how to connect with people and make a difference. Her growing arts and crafts studio was the perfect magnet to do it.
Since, she’s created a kids’ summer art program, partnerships with the City of Lauderhill, an internship program with the School Board of Broward County, and programs with police departments and Broward County foster care services to empower young people. In fact, one foster teen went on to become a corrections officer thanks to the law enforcement connections she made at Pubien’s studio.
“A Kid From Nowhere” Goes From Dinosaur City to Fort Lauderdale Society
There’s a reason Marc Martorana is the darling of Fort Lauderdale society. He can throw one heck of a party.
“I’m the man everyone wants to hire, but I’m not for hire,” he laughs.
A 20-year veteran director of blockbuster New York City events at cultural institutions like Brooklyn Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art, Martorana was once the Gordon Ramsey of high-end party planning. Staging a flawless event, sparking the atmosphere and firing up guests to contribute to the cause-du-jour was his passion.
Now retired, Martorana soon found himself creating similar adrenaline with scaled-down versions of his former bashes, but for local Broward charities inside the sprawling Wilton Manors home he shares with his husband, Don D’Arminio, a Wilton Manors city commissioner.
A former actor who got his start in a movie called “Adventures in Dinosaur City,” later toured with Sesame Street and starred in a Dial soap commercial, Martorana ultimately opened a restaurant in New Jersey with his brothers. Through a job offer, he soon found himself amid the New York social scene.
“I’m just a kid from nowhere who landed a great job,” he smiled.
Now living full-time in South Florida, he eschews any hint of profiting from his party-giving hobby despite the outpouring of gratitude and incessant pleas for him to go back into business full-time.
“The whole idea is about giving,” he explained. “When I was 15, a priest told me to make my life count. I may be 60 now, but I still have a ferocious appetite to do things and I’m not slowing down at all. I wouldn’t change a thing!”
For his grateful recipient charities, Martorana’s luxe parties appeal to their donors and also save big-budget catering costs, while he gets the personal satisfaction of making a difference and reliving his former party mojo. Flawless!
“If You Don’t Want My Mother to Read It, Don’t Send It!”
Dr. Steven Evans knows his LGBTQA+ magazine, Outclique, is popular at places like Aveda Spa at Macy’s and other corporate locations in part because of its family-friendly content.
“It’s also because my Mom proofreads everything,” he laughed. “So if you don’t want my mother to read it, don’t send it!”
Evans, a Ph.D. who came to South Florida through a job relocation as a university curriculum consultant, grew up in Kentucky with a love of music born through his Methodist roots. He was an organist at three different churches and even created a hand-bell-ringing choir.
Ever-attentive to the arts, with a knack for budgeting and spreadsheets, and a keen sense of marketing, Evans noticed an opportunity in the local gay community music and entertainment media mix, leading him to create Outclique.
“We tell the stories of arts organizations—who’s doing the work behind the scenes, as well as on the stage,” Evans explained. “We create a personal touch about who’s who in talent.”
Importantly, he also packages advertising and promotional opportunities in a way that’s very attractive to organizations on an individual level, effectively positioning Outclique as an indispensable arm of their own staff.
Evans always tries to attend nearly every event he promotes.
“I try to take along people who have never been to a cultural event like the symphony,” he explained. “I sometimes take the arts for granted, because it’s always been important to me, but others have never even considered it. Just going to one event for the first time can change someone’s life for the better forever!”
Holy Cross Health Embraces Art to Create a Calming, Spiritual Sense of Healing
The medical community has long known that both creating and enjoying art can help lower stress levels and treat a variety of illnesses, from Alzheimer’s Disease to heart trouble and depression.
For its The Dorothy Mangurian Comprehensive Women’s Center at Holy Cross HealthPlex, Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale has embraced the healing power of arts and health.
Working with ArtServe over many years to curate a rotating perpetual exhibit of diverse local female artists throughout its expansive walkways, Holy Cross Health has successfully created a luxurious sanctuary feeling in the Women’s Center spaces by incorporating artwork with South Florida themes, landscapes and nature to impart a peaceful, tranquil sense of spirituality and healing.
The ongoing Holy Cross Health exhibit has been so successful, the hospital is considering similar rotating displays at its area clinics to help convey the same sophisticated freshness and elegant sense of peace. Even more importantly, expanding its art program will help create a sense of community and belonging.
“Many think Holy Cross is only a Catholic organization, but we represent and treat people of all faiths and backgrounds,” Holy Cross Health President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Doyle said. “If we can express that diversity through artwork, that’s a great addition to our brand.”
Through strategic collaborations like its ArtServe partnership, and a commitment to being a person-centered, transforming, healing presence, the 557-bed Holy Cross Health offers progressive inpatient, outpatient and community outreach services and clinical research trials to serve as the community’s trusted health partner for life. Holy Cross Health also encompasses Holy Cross HealthPlex outpatient facility, urgent care centers and more than 40 Holy Cross Medical Group physician practices.
Twenty Years of Being the Spark
In the face of budget cuts to local programs 20 years ago, a group of concerned private arts supporters created Funding Arts Broward (FAB) to help sustain cultural enrichment in Broward County by funding high quality visual and performing arts programs that are open to the public. Through members’ contributions, FAB creates a sustainable, expanding pool of funds to award as grants to eligible non-profit arts organizations.
“Our members formed a perpetual line of defense for the arts, generously giving nearly $5 million to local arts over the past two decades,” explained FAB Director of Administration Kat Sierra, who helps create space for her members to network and engage.
“ArtServe especially offers a lot of opportunity for collaboration and connection,” Sierra added. “Their socially impactful exhibits provide a community service through the arts, like environmental education.”
For its 20th Anniversary, FAB recently launched a rapidly growing capital campaign called “Be The Spark” seeded by a lead gift of $750,000 from FAB Founder Francie Bishop Good and David Horvitz. Funds raised over the next five years could significantly increase FAB’s grantmaking pool, thus expanding grants for arts education, collaboration and new works, and an endowment at the Community Foundation of Broward. More than $1.7 million has already been pledged.
“The arts are an ecosystem and Funding Arts Broward is one hundred percent committed,” Sierra said.
The Un-Bohemian
Award-winning photographer Dan Perez had a tough time embracing his talent. In fact, it took him over 40 years.
“As an entrepreneur, I’ve always struggled with the identity of being an artist and, for a while, I distanced myself from the bohemian part of it,” the former catering, sales and marketing professional recalls. “Over the years, working with ArtServe allowed me to identify myself not just as a businessman, but as an artist. They made it OK to merge art and enterprise.”
Perez, who initially dabbled in photography and video editing as a hobby, was quickly impressing video production professionals with his work. Soon, he was shooting and editing “one-camera weddings” and quickly graduated to higher-end “two-camera” weddings before effectively transitioning himself into corporate video productions.
Competition for online visual supremacy is intense; being documented by a quality image or video can make a substantial career difference for artists of all kinds. To help, Perez frequently stops by ArtServe in between gigs, donating his photography for both events and artists.
“ArtServe supported me by showcasing my work and giving me the opportunity to present it,” Perez said, noting that ArtServe screened two of his earliest films, as well as a photography exhibition. “This organization puts artists first. I’m gratified that I can now use my abilities to help promote their work in turn.”
“As artists, we should look for opportunities to support one another,” Perez said. “If there’s something I can do to shine a light on other up-and-coming artists or art organizations like ArtServe through my work, then I’m happy to do it. That’s my bohemian side coming out.”
