AQUAFERious: Exploring Florida's Springs through Art

Each spring and fall I drive to Deland, Florida to purchase rich compost and a product called AZOMITE from Quality Green Specialists. These products have transformed my garden into a paradise of healthy organic fruits and vegetables. It has taken its “good ole time” to cool off enough to start the fall garden. I’ve cleared what was left of the summer garden except for one cherry tomato plant that is still producing a mouth-watering snack and blessing us with a burst of color in a bowl on the counter.

On my most recent trip to Deland, I discovered an art exhibition, “AQUAFERious,” at Stetson University. After loading my car with as much compost as it could carry, I headed over to Stetson to explore! “AQUAFERious” is a multi-artist, multimedia exhibit curated by Gainesville artist Margaret Ross Tolbert. She fell in love with the springs after snorkeling and finding a color palette she describes as “like another world.” The exhibit includes a looping video of Tolbert swimming through the colorful springs dressed in a pink outfit, straw hat and roller skates, allowing the viewer to experience the playfulness and colors of the springs she translates onto her oil painted canvases. Some of her works are as large as 90” x 90”!

As described in her poem When I Dive In, “The bubbles from the eelgrass, like wisps of thinnest smoke, slowly rise to the surface.” I sat on the bench at the Hand Art Center and she took me into the beauty of the springs. So I sat longer…and just enjoyed!