Escape to Create: A Valentine Toast to the Arts at The REP

Come out for a memorable evening celebrating Escape to Create’s 25th performance season in Seaside, Florida.  

Thursday, Feb 9 
Judith Modrak, Matthew Whittall
A Valentine Toast to the Arts with Art/Poetry/Music/Video
Seaside REP Theatre 7:30pm

Nature as inspired muse is the unifying theme of the award-winning works of New York sculptor Judith Modrak and Canadian-Finnish composer Matthew Whittall. Through image and recorded music, the artists explore their relationships with nature and how it is expressed in their creative work.

New York sculptor Judith Modrak has exhibited in solo and group shows in galleries and museums throughout the United States including Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, the Chelsea Art Museum, the Trenton Art Museum, Point Park University, the Palm Beach Art Armory and the Woodstock Museum. Modrak has received a chashama/National Endowment for the Arts grant and two gold medals in sculpture from the National Association of Women Artists, among other awards. Her work has been featured and reviewed in literary, scientific and news publications, includingSciArt in America, Sculpture, and The Pittsburgh-Tribune.  The artist is fascinated with scientific advances that increase our understanding of the mechanisms that trigger and regulate thought, memory and feelings. Her figurative forms, imbedded with messages of hope and despair, seek to decode inner psychological and emotive worlds as she tackles universal issues of aging and mental illness.

Canadian composer Matthew Whittall found his way to Finland in search of musical freedom and nature. Recipient of numerous awards, prizes and commissions in Europe and Canada, Whittall is considered one of the leading voices of the next generation of Finnish composers. His compositions are marked with a bold, emphatic artistic statement that fuses modern gestures and techniques with a post-minimalist harmonic language. Critics praise his broad range of works as “magical,” “fascinating’” and “summoning the Arctic light.” Whittall is on sabbatical from Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Finland where he was an honors graduate in one of the most demanding doctoral programs in the music world and where he now teaches composition, orchestration and music history and analysis.

Tickets $25 available online or at the door. 

Escape to Create artists are in residency this January and February for the 25th year in Seaside. As a residency requirement, artists give a public performance as a contribution to the community. Often produced in partnership with The REP Theater in Seaside, their readings, screenings, lectures and performances bring outstanding cultural programs to the South Walton community. Tickets to performances: lovetherep.com.

Escape to Create 25th Performance Season 2017

Friday, Jan 6: Dorothy Hindman and Jason Mason Concert
Seaside REP Theatre 7:30pm

Thursday, Jan 19 and Sunday, Jan 29: Saxophonist Matt Otto and Jazz Guitarist William Flynn
45 Central Wine Bar in Seaside Town Center 4-6pm

Wednesday, Jan 25 and Friday Jan 27: Rich Orloff's "Radio Ridiculous" 
Seaside REP Theatre 7:30pm

Thursday, Feb 9: Judith Modrak (Sculpture), Matthew Whittall (Music/Video) 
A Valentine Toast to the Arts with Art/Poetry/Music/Video
Seaside REP Theatre 7:30pm

Friday, February 17: Architectural Historian Judith Dupre and Heritage Seed Pioneer, Diane Ott Whealy 
Seaside REP Theatre 7:30pm

Escape to Create is celebrating 25 years! E2C is a nationally recognized multidisciplinary artist residency hosted by the Seaside community since 1993. E2C offers two month-long creative retreats every January and February. Open to emerging and established professional artists working in literary, music, visual, theatre and performance arts. For more information about Escape to Create, visit Escape2Create.org.