Need a creative break? Art Break Day returns to St. Andrews to feed 'creative spirits'
PANAMA CITY — Take a break from school or work Friday in St. Andrews to celebrate an internationally crafted holiday.
Art Break Day follows a week behind Play Music on the Porch Day on Aug. 27, and both are public art events organized locally by Floriopolis.
Floriopolis volunteers are preparing to join the worldwide celebrations with art projects and demonstrations taking place from noon to 6 p.m. Friday in the historic St. Andrews district.
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During the event, visitors can find more than 40 merchants participating in arts at venues along Beck Avenue and surrounding blocks. The St. Joe Community Foundation sponsors Art Break Day in St. Andrews.
"When people visit St. Andrews, there will be creatives everywhere," said Heather Parker, Floriopolis creative director and organizer of the event. "Whether it's bringing a sketchbook, paint kit, camera, a book or journal to participate, this is the day to push everything else aside and do that thing."
According to the website ArtIsMoving.com, Art Break Day is a social sculpture designed to remind the public of the joys and value of creating art. It's a concept coined by Joseph Beuys in the 1960s, a social sculpture is art that shapes its environment and transforms society through human activity.
Celebrations take place on the first Friday of September each year at various locations around the world, where free projects are set up and everyone is invited to sit down, take a break and make art. To date, nearly 34,000 art breaks in about 470 communities taken place since its debut in 2011.
"We hope visitors get the chance to explore all of St. Andrews on Friday. Seize the afternoon, and devote it to themselves and feed their creative spirits," she said. "And it’s not just Art Break Day in St. Andrews — it's worldwide. So, even if they can’t get to us, we hope they celebrate the day wherever."
Past events in St. Andrews have seen various arts, including active arts like hula hooping, roller skating and juggling; visual arts like watercolor and drawing; open jams for music making, poetry and journaling projects; nature and photography walks and much more.
Parker said the St. Andrews event is moving into its eighth year with the constant growth of local businesses and creatives adding to the movement each year.
"We organized our first Art Break Day in 2014 with seven free projects inside the old Floriopolis building," she said. "Since then, we've grown to expand the art break philosophy all over historic St. Andrews."
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Art Break Day returns to St. Andrews, Florida September 2022
