Panama City Arts Center Unveils December Exhibits

PANAMA CITY, Florida – The Panama City Center for the Arts opens three new exhibitions for the month of December, beginning Friday, December 8. The Main Gallery features the Bay County Audubon Society’s Nature in Art: Fine Arts & Photography Competition. Local artist and Gulf Coast State College professor Ryan Hubbard will have his work on display in the Miller Gallery. The Café Gallery features local artist Freya Perry. The public is invited to the opening reception on Friday, December 8, from 5pm-7pm.

The Bay County Audubon Society invited artists of all ages residing in ten Florida counties specializing in fine art media and photography for its competition, Nature in Art. 

“The Bay County Audubon Society is very excited to be associated with Bay Arts Alliance once again in sponsoring the Nature in Art Competition,” said Brian Dusseault, Co-President of the Bay County Audubon Society. We recognize and thank Bay Arts Alliance’s leadership in bringing together artists and photographers of the area to display their favorite nature-themed works in this juried competition.

Nature in Art will be on display in the Main Gallery from December 8, 2023 – January 13, 2024. The public is invited to attend the opening reception on Friday, December 8 starting at 5pm. Awards will be announced at 6pm that evening.

Growing up near the nation’s capital provided the perfect opportunity for a young Ryan Hubbard to develop his artistic insight. “As a kid, I participated in the ‘Art Smart’ program after school,” said Hubbard. “This helped me discover my love of art and the patient grind that often comes with making a piece. I also took art classes in High School and we would take field trips to the National Gallery of Art, which really opened up the art world for me.”

Through his exhibition, Precarity, Hubbard hopes its viewers will be able to understand themselves in a deeper way. “I wanted to capture the vastness of the big skies of the southwest, which gave me an expansive feeling… The work then started to develop a kind of precarious feeling. These two factors oriented my intention to create work that evokes moods of precarity, mystery, and wonder.” This will be Hubbard’s first solo exhibition at the Center for the Arts and will be on display through January 6, 2024 in the Miller Gallery.

Local artist Freya Perry moved to Panama City in 2005 with her family from Rhode Island. “I have always enjoyed artistic expression in many forms: photography, interior design, self-expression,…” said Perry. “I felt the pull to explore it through sketching and painting, so I bought some materials and got started! Most of my pieces start with a singular idea of how I want the overall shape to be, whether I want the subject or the background to be the main focus. It evolves multiple times throughout the process until I feel that it’s done.”

In her collection called Reverence, Perry explores the connection between nature and the divine feminine. “This collection symbolizes the inward shift I have felt over the last couple years,” said Perry. “There has been a lot of self-reflection and acceptance. I have a clearer understanding of how I want my life to be and the role I want to play in the world. Being vulnerable and sharing it with others is scary and exciting. It feels very special.”

The Center for the Arts is open Tuesday–Thursday 10am–5pm, Friday 10am-7pm, and Saturday 10am-5pm.

National Audubon Society

The National Audubon Society is a nonprofit conservation organization protecting birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon’s 23 state programs, 41 nature centers, nearly 500 chapters, and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, Audubon’s vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive.

Bay Arts Alliance

Since 1978, Bay Arts Alliance has served as the local arts agency for Bay County and provides opportunities for cultural enrichment through broad-based educational experiences, music and arts programs, exhibitions, and events. Bay Arts Alliance has brought countless national touring performances to the area and provides many cultural opportunities for Bay County schools and non-profit organizations.

Panama City Center for the Arts

Panama City Center for the Arts in downtown Panama City is housed in the beautiful 1925 historic City Hall building. Panama City Center for the Arts is managed by the Bay Arts Alliance. In the Center for the Arts, Bay Arts Alliance provides visitors and the local community with creative enrichment through monthly art shows and exhibitions, films, concerts, educational art classes for all ages, and special focus classes for Bay County school trips. The facility and grounds are under the ownership of the City of Panama City.