Fresh Squeezed 9: Emerging Artists in Florida
The Morean recently invited emerging artists currently residing in Florida to submit entries for possible exhibition in the ninth annual Fresh Squeezed: Emerging Artists in Florida. Our Fresh Squeezed program aims to provide emerging artists with resources needed to develop a sustainable artistic practice. The purpose of this exhibition is to nurture and advance the careers of emerging visual artists while also giving our community the opportunity to discover exciting new art being made in our region.
The Morean would like to thank Fresh Squeezed 9 sponsors The Gobioff Foundation and Lisa and Perry
Everett for their continued support.
Exhibition:Â March 15 – June 22
Opening Reception:Â April 12, 5-8pm
Chihuly Collection Special Exhibition
This year, we have extended our exhibition to feature two additional artists in our Chihuly Collection special exhibition space. This grants the opportunity to showcase two additional artists and unifies our neighboring galleries with a shared theme.Â
Exhibition:Â April 12 – June 26
Opening Reception:Â April 12, 5-8pm
Morean Arts Center
 The exhibition has been held at the Morean Arts Center every spring since 2017.Â
The Morean Galleries are divided into six spaces for the purposes of this show, giving each selected artist a solo exhibition.Â
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2025 Participating Artists:
Orlando-based artist Stella Arbelaez‘s large scale drawings and paintings are an homage to the Florida National Scenic Trail, which she hiked in 2020 to reset her mind after experiencing personal challenges.Â
Lily Capierseho, Sarasota  Â
Sarasota resident Lily Capierseho makes playful mixed media paintings about her life and family history, using themes of identity, self expression, mortality, relationships, and nature.
Caroline Crawford, Gainesville
A native of the New Smyrna Beach, Caroline Crawford is known for her striking representations of human figures in bodies of water, capturing fluidity and grace of movement in a way that is both realistic and emotionally evocative.
Tampa artist Norbert Gonsalves utilizes the Hindi concept of “Rass” (lit., sap of a plant or tree) in his vibrant ceramic sculptures, creating colorful, fluid forms out of solid materials.Â
Mary-Helen Horne, a resident of Tampa, invites viewers to stroll through an imagined woodland canopy and reflect on future memories of trees not yet lost to climate change within her prints and installations.
Inspired by coral forms and marine life structures, Tallahassee-based artist Hannah Keats creates abstract sculptural and immersive installations that engage viewers in world building, in a similar manner as science fiction authors.
Benedicta Opoku-Mensah, Gainesville
Drawing on more personal themes, Benedicta Opoku-Mensah is a sculptor whose work is a commentary on her native Ghana and the gender stereotypes entrenched in her upbringing. She asks the question, “What happens when one decides on a career that deviates from social conventions?”
West Palm Beach resident Ryan Toth‘s paintings and sculptures are inspired by bestiaries, natural history, vintage freakshow banners, art history, tacky tropical patterns and the balance between fabricated and natural environments, using the “Florida Man” as a protagonist.
