New Wekiva Island Art Gallery: Gallery Cero

Wekiva Island has been a magnet for the fine arts due to a picturesque setting on the majestic Wekiva River. Beginning on February 22, the riverside oasis will once again host the art community as three art efforts come together. On this day, Wekiva Island will offer patrons a sneak peek at its upcoming gallery space. Known as Gallery CERO, a traveling exhibition from The Great American Paint In, is a project meant to portray the pandemic through art. This showing and exhibition will coincide with the Wekiva Paint Out, an annual celebration of plein air art.

Wekiva Island Art Gallery Beginnings

“Art is a one of our core pillars at Wekiva Island,” Bill Weinaug states. Bill is the owner of Wekiva Island and Gallery CERO as well as the The Great American Paint In founder. He continues, “This week will truly show how we are living that out. I am extremely excited to see all three of these projects come together and look forward to being part of sharing the incredible works that have come through them.” Weinaug started The Great American Paint In with his daughter, Ashley. They hatched the idea during the pandemic as an online effort meant to bring artists and patrons together. In this way, it provides means to document the unique moment in history through artistic expression. Artists could submit any work to the juried project that told their pandemic story, and works are for sale here.

Bringing Gallery CERO Home

As businesses safely reopen, The Great American Paint In followed suit with its traveling exhibition, originally debuted in upstate New York. It is finally time for the exhibition to come home and appear at Gallery CERO itself. In dedication to nature and preservation, CERO stands for Conservation, Efficiency, Renewables, and Offset. The exhibition features a dynamic digital presentation of art from across the United States, as well as physical works from Florida artists Peter Pettegrew and Mary Jane Volkmann.

February 22nd was the first show to come, serving as a preview for the physical gallery space under construction at Wekiva Island. The exhibition will add to the art offerings as time progresses. The Wekiva Paint Out draws plein air artists from Florida and beyond for week-long celebrations of art. Artists paint at Wekiva Island, the state park and surrounding areas, producing a gallery’s worth of work for guests.

About The Great American Paint In

The vision of The Great American Paint In is to allow America’s great artists to share their experience during the 2020 world pandemic through their work to inspire other artists, collectors and the community. The project will collect works of art on its website, to create a marketplace for the pieces. The project will also create an upscale book to document this moment in history. The Great American Paint In is a project of art collectors Bill and Mary Weinaug. The two own a riverside oasis, Wekiva Island, and a soon to open art gallery there, Gallery CERO. Each year they also sponsor and run a “en plein air” event called the Wekiva Paint Out. This special project, therefore, is referred to as “paint in”, which is an event where artists paint within a space or in an enclosed environment during a period of time for the purpose of completing paintings of their life from their life. For more information, visit them here, or follow the project on social media on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

About Gallery CERO

Gallery CERO is a unique art gallery space located north of Orlando, FL, overlooking the Wekiva River. Owned by Bill and Mary Weinaug, the space serves to represent artists and showcase natural works from around the world. It also hosts art classes, special events, exhibitions, projects, educational programs and more. Gallery CERO is located at Wekiva Island, a riverside oasis dedicated to sustainability, education and art. The gallery takes its name from Wekiva Island’s vow to go carbon neutral by 2030 by focusing on Conservation, Efficiency, Renewables and Offset. It aims to show patrons unique and beautiful works just as Wekiva Island showcases the unique and natural beauty of the Wekiva River. More information about Gallery CERO is available at gallerycero.com.

Park Ave Magazine

Find out about Orlando Advertising opportunities with Park Ave Magazine. We would like to thank everyone who put time and effort to bring Park Ave Magazine to life. Be sure to check out our latest issue. The magazine is full of exciting articles, art, photography, and trivia about the city of Winter Park.

With plenty more monthly releases to come be sure to sign up for our newsletter and stay in the loop with our team. Monthly events and parties to meet all of you wonderful people make Winter Park an incredible place to work, play, and live. Reach over 600,000 individuals through our Orlando Advertising services. Park Ave Magazine is available on local newsstands and magazine racks. It is distributed by Rollins College to all faculty and senior staff, The Alfond Inn, Publix, and more!