Out on Tallevast, in a retrofitted warehouse sheltered from prying eyes, an artistic maelstrom has been brewing. For the last year and a half, painter Shannon Warren has been steadily assembling her own collaborative space and creative team, and this Saturday, January 19, Art Factory 44 celebrates its grand opening with an open house, inviting the public—and those prying eyes—inside to see what these resident artists have been creating. “We’re ready to share,” says Warren.

The “we” of Art Factory 44 comprises a core trio of two painters—Warren and Laurie Maves—and one sculptor, Jeff Hostetler. The trio shares the mostly open studio space of Art Factory 44, though shelves and walls—as well as the sheer size of the space—allow plenty of room for each to pursue their own art, free from distraction. It achieves a delicate balance, where proximity lends itself to the artistic cross-pollination and collaboration that Warren envisioned, but each working artist also maintains autonomous space. “We can see each other’s work,” says Warren, “and we draw a lot of inspiration from one another.” Sometimes the artists even indulge in group brainstorming sessions, where they all sit down and spitball. “It seems to ignite a lot of different ideas between us,” she says.

And with the grand opening and open house on Saturday, the artists welcome the greater community into this shared creative space, where abtract and color-hungry painters like Maves and Warren coexist alongside the bone-white arboreal constructions that Hostetler carves and crafts.

Visitors will also get an inside peek at the collaborative’s ongoing relationship with Trinity Graphic, a versatile printing company based in the same Tallevast location. Using work created at Art Factory 44, Trinity Graphic can print images on everything from canvas to metals, and even wallpapers and floor panels to transform the entire house into a veritable gallery. “Decorators might be very interested in what we can do,” says Warren.

For those intrigued by what they see on Saturday, Art Factory 44 also hosts workshops, including small-scale sculptural exercises with Hostetler and large-scale painting workshops led by Maves—which go beyond the casual paint-by-numbers approaches of some workshops. “You’re not going to be taught how to paint a palm tree,” she warns, “you’re going to be taught to open up and let go and let these things flow through you.”

Art Factory 44 is located at 885 Tallevast Rd. Unit A, Sarasota. The grand opening and open house is Saturday, January 19, from 5pm to 9pm. 

Pictured, from left: Laurie Maves, Jeff Hostetler and Shannon Warren in the shared studio space of Art Factory 44. Photo courtesy of Art Factory 44.

“This business literally fell into my lap when I became aware of women in San Antonio manufacturing handbags and being grossly underpaid and undervalued,” Gretchen Bauer Founder and CEO of BSWANKY describes. “I immediately flew out and partnered with them, purchased their machinery and together we started making leather handbags.”

The philanthropic-centric and fashion-forward boutique creates its transformational bags with a focus on empowering women and giving back. Proud to design and handcraft in their very own Sarasota Factory, the foundation of BSWANKY happily manufactures its product and employs women who have come from local sweatshops. “We want to improve the way goods are being manufactured,” Bauer says of learning female employees are part of an underutilized and underserved workforce in our country.“ Women have been undervalued in factories across the U.S. and are tasked to work in less than optimal working environments.”

While typical American manufacturing facilities are desperate for highly-skilled employees, the standards and wages do not afford the people with the lifestyle and workspace that they deserve. “Not all workplaces are created equal,” she states. Established a work setting forged in integrity, creative expression and intention, the care and expression of BSWANKY bags are reflected in the quality craftsmanship of each handbag produced. “Our workforce is made up almost entirely of female immigrant artisans who take immense pride in their work.”

Using only the highest quality leathers and components, customers can “B the difference”, simply by purchasing one of its versatile purses that convert into a backpack. Fully-lined and showing off edgy, luxury prints—don The Python, made of textured python skin (ethically-sourced of course, from the Florida Everglades), or The Sundance, made of hair-on cowhide with chestnut leather. Additionally, the Unreal Pink bag, fearlessly shows off its alligator embossed pink leather paired with copper leather straps. The Unreal Pink line is dedicated towards supporting women of breast cancer and helps towards raising awareness through a brand partnership with National Breast Cancer Foundation. 

Photo courtesy of BSWANKY, 6321 Porter Rd. Suite #3, Sarasota, 610-291-8527

Shop the collections here.

High-end real estate team Luxury Living Group has announced it will now represent leading Gulf Coast brokerage Michael Saunders & Company. Formerly with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, the team comprises top-producing realtors Stacy Haas, Gloria Bracciano and Greg Van Natter and serves neighborhoods in Lakewood Ranch and Sarasota. In the last year alone, the team has garnered more than $65 million in sales volume. It’s continued success in the luxury category ultimately led to this business decision, with agent Van Natter citing Michael Saunders & Company’s resources, values and in-house marketing capabilities as determining factors. As the real estate market levels out in anticipation for a cooling in late 2019, the move also signals a vote of confidence for the independent brokerage’s sustainability, leveraging more than 42 years of navigating local market behavior. 

Michael Saunders & Company

Sarasota-based startup Omeza, a company specializing in skin care and wound management products from the sea, is bringing its cutting-edge products to market this year, beginning with it’s core formulation, Omeza omega-3 oil spray, now shipping to consumer. The first full spectrum omega fatty acid oil spray designed to provide essential topical nutrition, Omeza omega- 3 oil help strengthen skin, and moisturize and exfoliate dead and drying skin.The patented invention is a combination of specialty ingredients and proprietary processes. Developed with doctors, omega-3 oil is also the first anhydrous (without water) omega oil ever made. Its non-irritating formula curtails the need for re-application and is expected to be a boon to wound patients. Omeza products are available for purchase by consumers on Amazon. 

Omeza

Forty Carrots Family Center celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and is recognizing local supporters and community partners who have helped the agency serve more than 40,000 families in Sarasota and Manatee Counties.

Founded in 1993 by longtime residents Betsy Kane-Hartnett and Diane Weiss, Forty Carrots Family Center blended their respective skills of early childhood and parenting education and vision to create a place where families—regardless of economic status, educational background, age, or other factors—would find the resources, tools and support they needed to help nurture their families, educate their children and overcome the challenges inherent in those early years. Over the past two and half decades, the organization has worked to meet the needs of families, collaborating with community partners to expand their outreach services, which include mental health and programs, into dozens of area libraries and community organizations that serve families with young children, pregnant teens, parents, grandparents and at-risk families. Today, Forty Carrots provides services to 17 nonprofit partners at 30 partner locations, including all Sarasota and Manatee Libraries, with 93% of services provided at no cost. 

Forty Carrots Family Center

Through the use of minimally invasive indirect decompression surgery, pain management specialist Dr. Douglas Constant of Coastal Orthopedics is helping to reverse the effects and bring needed pain relief to patients suffering from spinal stenosis, a debilitating degenerative condition. Constant is one of only 250 of the 4,000 interventional pain management physicians nationwide who is trained on this type of therapy.

Since May 2018, Constant and fellow Coastal Orthopedics pain management specialists Dr. Gennady Gekht and Dr. Justin Sirianni have performed nearly 25 minimally invasive indirect decompression surgeries using a Superion Interspinous Spacer, a minimally invasive lumbar decompression device designed to relieve chronic pain caused by spinal stenosis, without complication. While the Superion Interspinous Spacer wasn’t commercialized until July 2016, the device has more than five years of clinical data behind it, with the most recent data showing its ability to play a key role in the fight to reduce opioid use in the U.S. Those patients selected by Constant for the procedure, who were on low-dose or no-dose opioids initially, also saw a reduction in medication usage following the procedure. 

Coastal Orthopedics