Timothy m parker artist in hilton

JULY

Southwest Florida Bridal Show

1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 22, at Suncoast Credit Union Arena at FSW, 13351 FSW Parkway, Fort Myers. Free. Wedding industry will have booths and displays set up. 239-225-4463. Information:  bridal@iheartmedia.com.

More:3 To Do: Vegan Fest, more

Happy Hour for Hope

Marco Island Meals of Hope’s July “Happy Hour for Hope” will be from 5 until 7 p.m., Monday, July 30, at Stonewalls, 551 S. Collier Blvd., Marco Island. Happy Hours for Hope are fundraisers for Marco Island’s Meals of Hope. The $20 admission fee helps the organization buy food for its packaging event in November. A 50/50 drawing is always offered. Meals of Hope will also have a cumulative 50/50 drawing to build until the winner is selected at the packaging event on Nov. 17. Marco Meals of Hope is a joint effort of Kiwanis, Noontime Rotary and Sunrise Rotary Clubs. Information: 239-642-6020; www.mohmi.org. 

Marco Presbyterian VBS

Taking reservations now. Marco Presbyterian Church’s vacation Bible school is 6 until 8 p.m., July 30 through Aug. 3. Dinner is served at 5:30. Special guests: Sports World Ministries, retired NFL players Steve Grant (Indianapolis Colts & Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Jimmy Bell (New York Giants, San Diego Chargers). Reservations at marcochurch.com, visiting the church at 875 W. Elkcam Circle, Marco Island or by contacting Dena Hatt, children’s director, at 239-394-8186 or dena@marcochurch.com.

ONGOING

‘Big, Bold & Beautiful’

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., now through July 31, at Marco Island Center for the Arts, 1010 Winterberry Drive, Marco Island. Large and powerful pieces, stunning murals, and massive canvases will envelop our Lauritzen & Rush Galleries with gallant colors and imaginative scenes.  Artists Alyssa Baladad, Susan M. Gross, Betty Newman, Timothy M. Parker and Eric Walton express the “three B’s” in their artwork and outlook. Their creations will be four feet or larger showcasing a stron

Born in Rostov-on-the-Don, Russia, to wealthy parents Ivan and Izabella Alajálov, Constantin Alajálov (1900-1987) grew up a well-educated man. He attended the Gymnasium of Rostov from 1912 to 1917 and began his studies at the University of Petrograd in 1917. At five years old, the artist began making sketches; a talent his mother nurtured. In school, he preferred languages. Alajálov studied French, English, German, and Italian. His skill in art and language became tools for survival before ever turning it into a passionate career.

His academic pursuits were cut short in 1917 on the advent of the Russian Revolution. The revolution began with an armed insurrection in Petrograd, the very city in which Alajálov was studying. Forced out of school, the Bolsheviks drafted Alajálov to produce political propaganda throughout southern Russian villages. He painted wall murals and posters until escaping to Rasht, Persia (now northern Iran) in 1920.

Constantin’s time in Persia, however, was short-lived. In 1921, the khan he was working for was executed by his successor. Again, Alajálov fled to a new land and sought refuge in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey).

Alajálov’s Constantinople era was one of abject poverty. The artist was grateful for a glass of goat’s milk or a small meal as payment for posters and murals. He once remarked that Russian princes wandered the streets in gray flannel pajamas provided by the American Red Cross. He began a Russian Artists Club to study technique and critique the work of his peers. After two years, Constantin had saved enough money, $100, to make the trip to New York City.

Arriving in 1923 with $5 in his pocket, the artist ran into a boyhood friend on Broadway. The friend happened to be the secretary of famous American dancer Isadora Duncan. Constantin used this connection to network with the Russian community in New York City. Soon the artist was painting murals and posters again. His artistic “big break” arrived when