wiltonproud.2022

“I am proud…”

Wilton Art® has partnered with acclaimed photographer and Wilton Manors resident Sharron Demarest to create a bold, yet intimate, photographic montage of individuals who enrich the Wilton Manors community.

wiltonproud.2022 presents photographic portraits of the wide and diverse range of individuals that make up our community -- those that live, work, eat and play in Wilton Manors. Their day-to-day lives may not at first glance seemingly intersect, but each is deeply woven into the fabric of City, creating a vivid tapestry of an inclusive, proud, diverse and flourishing community of interconnected individuals.  

We started this project with a concept and vision of both the diversity, uniqueness and passion that comes from each individual. Very quickly, we learned that each person had a beautiful story (or two) to share with us. These stories flowed and connected us as we started our journey of approaching people, engaging them, and then photographing them. We quickly understood that ALL are powerful and had their unique place at the table.

wiltonproud.2022 will feature portraits of these individuals placed throughout the City. Each individual will share a unique “I am proud…” statement that will appear below their image. A central City Hall installation, consisting of large format posters on the front windows, will anchor the project. Nearly 100 other posters will be found in business windows throughout the City.

wiltonproud.2022 will be installed for June 2022 to coincide with the celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month. It will reinforce that being proud has no boundaries, encourage all to embrace pride together, and to listen and see the pride that makes up Wilton Manors.

We salute those from all walks of life that make Wilton Manors a treasure!

SHARRON DEMAREST, a photographer lives and works in Wilton Manors, Florida (the Island City). Born in Maine, she misspent her youth as a military brat moving around the country before settling in New York City. Seventeen years ago Sharon and her spouse relocated to Florida to be near family.

Sharon’s passion for photography was ignited during her senior year of high school when she acquired a plastic $3.98 Diana camera. The pictures were lousy, but she was hooked.

Since then, rarely without a camera. Sharon got her professional start in photography by working as a darkroom technician for various New York-based photographers, including W. Eugene Smith, notable for his WW II photography and documentation of the city of Pittsburgh. During her free time, she roamed the city photographing the people and places she came to know and love.

Some of her early street portraits can be found at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and in private collections in NYC. Her more recent work is in several private Florida collections.

Sharon has also received awards for her photographs in such area art shows as the Broward Art Guild, Arts United Art Explosion, National League of American Pen Women, and internationally in the Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers.

Technically, photography…whether film or digital…is always about the light. Her job as she sees it is to capture that light, mix in some joy, add a dash of herself, and let the viewer see as she sees.

SELF REFLECTION

Wilton Art® offered this exhibition to engage you; to go inside yourself and evaluate your own thoughts, actions and words. Can you identify anything that you might change to honor ANY other individual as equal to all?

Powerfully equal, beautifully together, we are indeed all connected.

Celebrate all.

Support Wilton Art® today!