The Love, Blooms and Magic on 5th by Lois Bolin, Ph.D., Old Naples Historian

February is the bridge that connects the promises of the past with the hopes of the year ahead. It is a time to celebrate love in all its forms, whether it’s the love between partners, friends, family or community.

February is a time to let go, really let go, of the old and create space for new beginnings unless you are a history lover and revel in the ‘magic in this place we call home’.

Home is not just where we live; it’s where we belong, where our soul finds solace in the earnest embrace from our town’s streets and memories. Moving into the new year requires me to look back whether it’s through my archives or memories. Actually, it’s more like when I move Christmas decorations from the attic and then back again, I bump into old friends (archives) that require me to show my respect by sitting a spell to reminisce about back then.

Back Then
While scanning my archives I came across a 1965 article from Palm Beach Life, called “NAPLES… PIZZAZ without JAZZ” written by the iconic, local historian, Doris Reynolds. Naples, back then, was a retreat, a colony, for winter visitors who loved fishing, hunting, solitude, and imbibing the local spirits.

Around the same time, the Saturday Evening Post wrote about this land as if was the last outpost of civilization (it kind of was) surrounded by the mystifying Everglades populated by bootleggers (there were a few), town characters (even more), and non-conformists (a lot).

Even Florida Trend wrote in a 1959 article asking, “why would people want to come to this ‘nothing to do in’ little town”? This, of course, was said by people who did not live here, and as such could not appreciate all there was to do in this ‘little bend in the road’ paradise. They never experienced the joy of counting how many times the only traffic light in town came on and went off while lying underneath that electric wonder nor did they ever feel the lactic loaded thigh burn caused by double time peddling on a beat-up Schwinn bicycle, trying to outrun that pesky bob cat from 5th Avenue S. to Combs Fish House.

Of course, they did not consider this ‘nothing to do in’ town had fabulous beaches for fishing, sunbathing, and imbibing (notice I have said this twice).

On June 15, 1954, the world of visual art graced this little bend in the road when local artists Grace Lake, George Rogers and Elsie Upham founded the Naples Art Association (NAA), a not-for-profit visual arts organization.

When art instruction was not available to local students in 1957, the NAA members volunteered their expertise until the public school’s program was established.

Blooming Art
Naples then was not a town for fads or social climbers because there was really no place to climb and there was wealth, but rarely the ostentatiousness kind. There were no fabulous charity balls, jet setters, polo matches, roaring motorcycle escorts for movie celebrities, art auctions or galleries.

Fast forwarding to 2025, it’s so nice to see that Naples, quiet elegance still holds true, while her theaters, artists, and galleries are wonderfully abundant.

To glimpse this fabulousness, one needs only to stroll west in downtown Old Naples and its byways starting at “four corners”-home of the ‘one traffic light’. But first, let’s look at two groups that serve this fabulousness.

NAA: For over 70 years, the Naples Art Institute has served artists and the community by gathering established and aspiring artists, patrons, and individuals to explore their creativity. 585 Park St., Naples, FL 34102 | NaplesArt.org

United Arts Council: While the UAC is nine blocks off 5th Avenue South, it’s a must-visit to get the scope of the land for Naples 75+ galleries. 500+ artists & entertainers, and 59 nonprofit arts groups and cultural destinations. 935 4th Ave. N. Naples, FL 34102

On the Avenue there are numerous galleries beginning with Shaw Gallery of Fine Art; Native Visions Gallery; and Silver Eagle Gallery.

My fav on 5th is Gallery One, one of Naples’ most unique galleries co-owned by one of the best humans I know, Samantha Bloom. 65 Fifth Ave. South, Naples, FL 34102

Since February is a time to celebrate love in all its forms, shared between partners, friends, family or community, stop by
Gallery One and say ‘hey’ to Samantha and you too may experience a bit of the magic in this place we call home.

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