It's official: Artist Leoma Lovegrove signs lease for new Fort Myers gallery, studio
Nearly three months after announcing her move to Fort Myers, Leoma Lovegrove has finally signed the lease for her new downtown art gallery and studio.
The popular Matlacha artist says she can’t wait to move into the approximately 2,800-square-foot storefront on Dean Street ― more than three times the size of her old, 800-square-foot gallery.
“I’m looking forward to the new space, for sure,” Lovegrove says. “And it’s large enough that I can really expand my creativity. So I’m excited.”
Lovegrove signed the five-year lease Friday and it was notarized Saturday, she says. She blames the delay on Hurricane Ian and the backlog of work and permitting it created all over Southwest Florida.
“I think had we not had the storm, it would’ve gone right away,” she says. “But there’s legals and there’s permits.”
Most new construction doesn't happen immediately, says Dean Building owner Steve Israel. In addition to permitting delays, he says, the gallery lease needed to be further negotiated and lawyers had to read it carefully.
"The devil's always in the details," Israel says. "It takes time."
Previously: Matlacha artist Leoma Lovegrove announces plans to move gallery to downtown Fort Myers
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Hurricane art: Artist Leoma Lovegrove makes paintings from Ian debris
Work has already started on the former office space at 1415 Dean Street, Unit 102, next to Ford's Garage, Israel says. The Dean Building storefront has been gutted. Next up, workers will "move some doors around" and create the gallery space inside, including new lightning, walls and other changes, he says.
If all goes well, Lovegrove's new gallery could open in three or four months, he says, depending on permitting, architectural designs and more.
Lovegrove says she's just relieved that she's finally signed the lease and started working on the project with Israel and developer Nils Richter.
“I was really worried, because downtown is the place to go,” Lovegrove says. “I was worried that somebody would take it from me (laughs). Retail space is at a premium right now. You just can’t find it.”
Lovegrove declined to say how much she’s spending on the lease, which has an option to renew after five years.
A Matlacha icon moving to Fort Myers
Lovegrove's move is a big economic loss for Matlacha. Her gallery has been one of the island’s biggest draws there for about 25 years. Then Hurricane Ian badly damaged her house, gallery and art studio in September — along with much of the rest of Pine Island.
It wasn’t an easy decision to move to Fort Myers, Lovegrove said in January. She loves Matlacha, she said, and it will always be a part of her.
“I don’t feel like I’m really abandoning Matlacha, because I’m taking the history with me,” said Lovegrove, who now lives with her husband in a North Fort Myers condo. “I’m going to have a little Matlacha section in my new gallery...
"I gotta take the history with me! It’s a huge part of my husband’s and my life.”
That includes the decorated camper trailer she once towed to appearances all over Florida. It’s been parked behind her gallery for seven years, she says, but now she plans to display it proudly inside her new Fort Myers gallery.
Lovegrove hopes that, by representing Matlacha in Fort Myers, she'll encourage more people to check out Pine Island, too.
“Business-wise, it just makes sense to take Matlacha with me,” Lovegrove says. “I mean, I could be their own little chamber of commerce in there.”
Lisa Sbuttoni, president & CEO of the Fort Myers River District Alliance, helped connect Lovegrove with property owners and developers for the project. And she’s excited about all the people she expects the gallery to draw to downtown.
“It’s a huge deal,” Sbuttoni said in January. “She’s iconic with Southwest Florida.
“I mean, she’s really a huge name, not just here in Southwest Florida. She’s internationally known.”
Israel says Lovegrove's gallery will be a great addition to the Dean Building and the rest of downtown Fort Myers.
"I think Leoma epitomizes Florida, fun and talented art," he says. "Not too expensive, not too cheap. Very unique.
"I think of her as the Peter Max of Fort Myers. ... They're both fun, very talented and upbeat."
Lovegrove says her Matlacha gallery saw about 1,000 visitors a day during tourist season. But the gallery and studio would need extensive, expensive work to reopen. Both got about 4 feet of floodwater when Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida.
“Right now, it’s down to sticks,” Lovegrove said in January “There’s no drywall, no toilet, no running water, no electric. All we have is a roof and an old, old floor.”
If she rebuilt her Matlacha gallery and studio, she’d want to raise the property by several feet. That would take about three years to get government approval and then build, she said.
More about Leoma Lovegrove's new gallery
Meanwhile, Lovegrove has temporarily reopened her old gallery on a limited basis to sell art she’s made from the gallery’s roof shingles and other hurricane debris.
The exhibit was originally scheduled to end March 31, but she says it’s now been extended until April 16. The weather won’t let it stay open much longer than that, though.
“It just gets too hot,” Lovegrove says. “We don’t have air (conditioning), you know. … There’s no bathrooms. There’s no electrical. It’s very primitive.”
That's why the Fort Myers gallery is so important, she says. Plus it’ll tap into downtown’s rapid growth, including new hotels, restaurants and the Caloosa Sound Convention Center & Amphitheater.
“It was already alive,” Lovegrove says about downtown, “but it’s about to get much busier.”
Lovegrove says she plans to paint in the studio at her new gallery, and people can watch her work through the window from Dean Street. That includes a planned large-scale project inspired by Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” series with eight 5- by 6-foot panels.
“I’m going to do it in the front window, so people can watch it,” she says. “You know, (art legend Robert) Rauschenberg used to do that. Out in Captiva, he would paint and whatever he was working on, he would put it in the front window, finished or unfinished, so the public can see it.
“And I’m inspired to do the same. I would like the public to be a part of watching it grow.”
She’s also excited about the possibilities in the bigger gallery. More space means more opportunities for creativity.
“I have such high ceilings,” she says. “I can’t wait to start hanging things from them.”
Learn more about Leoma Lovegrove at leomalovegrove.com.
Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Email him at crunnells@gannett.com or connect on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1). You can also call at 239-335-0368
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Pine Island artist Leoma Lovegrove signs lease on Fort Myers gallery
