MEET OUR OCTOBER ARTIST AND POETS!

Meet our October Artists and Poets! Taste the local flavor, experience the local art. Featured this month, our menu shares the spotlight with talented artists and poets from our community. We are hosting an artist reception here on Sunday, October 25th at 3pm. Artist: Elaine Clayman Elaine Clayman is a painter based in Sarasota, Florida, with a long-standing exhibition history in New York City. Working primarily in oil, her figurative and narrative paintings are meant to remain in memory long after the viewer has stepped away from the canvas. Through this, Clayman reveals the invisible cord that connects us all, exploring what it means to be human. Born and raised in New York City, Clayman began her formal studies at the City University of New York, where she was mentored by celebrated Harlem Renaissance artist Charles Alston. She continued her artistic education through advanced study at the Gilda and Henry Block School, along with classes at the Salmagundi Art Club and the Art Students League of New York. She also gained intimate studio experience with renowned painters Steven Assael, David Grey, and Eric Michelson. Hugo Bastidas provided mentorship in developing her professional artistic practice. Her lifelong commitment to artistic growth is reflected in both her technical mastery and her continually evolving body of work. Clayman’s work has received numerous awards and honors, including the David Beynon Pena Memorial Award in Oils and Acrylics and inclusion in the permanent collection of the Bernard Heller Museum at Hebrew Union College in NYC. She was an Elected Member of Allied Artists of America, where she served as Historian, and a member of Audubon Artists. She has exhibited extensively throughout the United States, with solo and group shows at venues including the Salmagundi Club, Denise Bibro Gallery of Fine Art, Milk Gallery, and Ceres Gallery in Chelsea, New York, as well as the WHAM Arts Center in Surprise, Arizona. Her paintings are held in private and public collections nationally and internationally. For more than a decade, Clayman owned and directed The Elaine Clayman Gallery in Nyack, New York, where she exhibited her work while fostering relationships within the artistic community. She brought that same spirit south to Sarasota, where she nowmaintains her studio and continues building relationships within its distinct and vibrant creative scene. Today, Clayman continues to build her artistic legacy from South Florida. Her work is currently available at Andrew Ford Fine Art Gallery, a highly respected gallery in Sarasota, and she is co-author of the book “Art Speaks Poetry / Poetry Speaks Art.” Poet: Marina Vongphachanh Marina Vongphachanh is a Sarasota poet whose work is angsty, lyrical, and unafraid of the dark corners where beauty tends to hide. She is the founder of Stardust Society, a community built around creativity, culture, and play. Each week she co-hosts an open mic at Salt Your Soul Gift Co. and a game night at Dreaming City Games, plus monthly karaoke at Funky Fusion Filipino Kitchen. Nora Jane Long Nora Jane Long is an interdisciplinary writer and poet who has been crafting stories as long as she can remember. Her poetic practice weaves together themes of nature, memory, and human connection, transforming fleeting moments into symbolism-rich verse. Whether composing spontaneous poems at events or developing commissioned works, Nora’s writing invites others into dialogue, reflection, and recognition.