The Beauty & Wonder of Free Events

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We all love to attend events, see shows, listen to concerts, and tour museums. We may not like all of the above, but we surely like at least one of them. Especially if it is free. Am I right?

Well, I’m here to talk to you about two of those. Both very different from each other, but both of them free.

The first one is an event called Timucua and it happens in Orlando, in a place called The White House. No, not the big one in Pennsylvania Avenue.

This event is unlike anything I had seen before. First, it happens in someone’s house and it hosts a very warm and welcoming setting. It is the sort of place that you bring your own wine while you experience fine arts as well as music. I had the pleasure of visiting it recently and, to my surprise and excitement, they were featuring two Brazilian artists. The musical artist was a acoustic guitar player, by the name of Ricardo Filipo, who played all the major hits of a genre called Chorinho. One that reminded me of my parents since it’s the type of music they played around the house. It is also very popular in Brazil. The second artist was a photographer. Like most of us, she was enjoying the music and not actually performing. This type of event is very peculiar but also very appropriate for the type of “product” it displays. It allows people to have a more intimate connection with whatever form of art is being showcased. That is way it is not able to support many viewers at the same time.

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The second “event”, if I can call it, was an Art gallery viewing. I was recently in Miami and I was fortunate enough to pass through Peter Lik’s gallery, in the center of the Lincoln Road, in South Beach.

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I was simply walking around and suddenly this gallery is there, so I decide to enter. I had never heard of the gallery or even the artist, but I was very impressed with the art that was being displayed on the walls. Peter Lik is an Australian photographer who has hundreds of millions of dollars through his artwork. The gallery worked as any other gallery would: photos on the wall, description and price on the side. I remember being there on a Wednesday night and the place was filled with “walk-ins” just admiring the beautiful photos. I guess it works having your own gallery in the heart of South Beach, Miami.

Although I really enjoyed both events for different reasons, both of them can be improved, as anything can.

Timucua could be a more advertised establishment. I know they are supposed to be an intimate setting, but people should know about it and should be more exposed to good things happening around their community. For example, they could collaborate with a local newspaper and invite their journalists to do articles on a monthly basis. This is something that can be very helpful raising awareness to the event and not cost money while doing it. Something else they should do, and at their level should not cost money, is raise their presence in social media. Their Facebook page is rather active, but their twitter and YouTube pages are almost inexistent. They should also look into Vine and Instagram given that their shows are very visual.

As for Lik’s gallery, it seems to be doing extremely well. It has a strong presence online and across all social media platforms. The only thing I would maybe add to the gallery is having Mr. Lik present from time to time. For example, they could schedule him once a month and it advertise it inside the gallery.