Welcome to Tangerine Pond

       The minute I turn onto Art Center Avenue, the weight of the workaday, common-place world lifts off my shoulders and I feel the embrace that brings an artist to the Atlantic Center for the Arts.
       For that is what I am this week - an artist, there is no doubt about it.
       Tangerine Pond Artists' Collective has come to record a children's book by Trudy Scott entitled Spy Kats, Mission: Hospital and perform a live piece for invited guests. More that that, we have come to celebrate the embrace and variety of the arts - literature, performance, illustration, design. We are the variety pack of artists and a finer destination we have not found.
       When not sequestered for its own retreats, the Atlantic Center has made its studios and accommodations available to groups that range from weddings to workshops, corporate or artistic, for groups or individuals wishing to surround themselves with inspiration.
       Jim Frost, Program and Marketing Manager, has made the arrangements for our first retreat, assuring us that we belong in this remarkable place. And the first person to greet us upon arrival is Ann Brady, Executive Director.
       For our venue we've chosen the Roberson Dance Studio. Its soaring ceiling and wall of glass that opens onto the native oak hammock of Turnbull Bay lends a feeling of seclusion to our production. Dan Stillwagon, Facilities Assistant, has provided equipment, chairs, information, and best of all enthusiasm for our project.
       Jim Zock, Office Manager, and Mary McBride, Community Programs and Operations Manager, both conduct tours past our door and discreetly enquire if folks may peek in, much to our delight. We are a hit!
       Chef Sue Flynn who writes a weekly column entitled "What's For Dinner?" was recommended by the ACA staff. Her meals are artworks from planning to presentation and through the kitchen door pass the artists and patrons that make up the Atlantic Center. Soon we have made the acquaintance of Cathy Berse, a New Smyrna painter who is working on a large piece next door in the Everbach Painting Studio. Word in the kitchen is that Cathy was recently honored as Volusia County Schools Volunteer of the Year and she honors us with attending our reading and inviting our guests to view her work.
       We were told that this might happen - this interaction between the studios, on the boardwalks in-between, at the Commons, in the kitchen. We all agree that our project has been a success on levels we had not expected and start to plan our second annual retreat from the workaday, common-place world.

For more information on Spy Kats, Mission: Hospital by Trudy Scott go to www.TangerinePond.org/press.shtml

For more information on the facilities at the Atlantic Center for the Arts go to www.atlanticcenterforthearts.org