During a Special Council Presentation in January 2015, Vice Mayor Stephen R. Shelley introduced the latest artist to be selected to participate in his Artist in the Spotlight program. The program, which was created in 2010 by the Vice Mayor, seeks to identify, nurture and empower local artists by giving them the opportunity to present their work to the general public. This time around, the featured artist is Homestead resident Samantha Eden Oakey, an ambitious, multi-talented young artist who is proud to hold her own exhibit. She works in several mediums, including drawing, painting and sculpting.
“I’m so grateful to Vice Mayor Shelley for choosing me to be featured in his Artist in the Spotlight program,” said Oakey, “especially since it’s my first solo show!”
Although originally from Altamonte Springs, Ms. Oakey moved to Homestead when she was four years old, considering herself a native. She graduated from Design and Architecture Senior High in 2013, and is completing her Associates of Art in Art Education with plans to go on to obtain her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art.
Oakey titled her exhibition “Second Home.” Not owning a home since she was nine years old, brought on by uncontrollable events, Oakey knows what it's like to live as a nomad. She has grown accustomed to living out of boxes and bags, never having enough privacy or space to make art, and moving from friends' houses to houses. She is too familiar with taking city buses and the train to get where she needs to go. As she has taken on more responsibilities, she has felt the constriction of inconvenience on her psyche and her artwork. She seeks to explore in her work the concepts of privacy, compactness, containment, time and space, nomadic living, the stationary and the mobile, control, and ultimately when and where she can finally settle down and make her own home.
Vice Mayor Shelley spoke fondly of this young artist: “She held an opening night here at the Community Center on January 2. I have heard a lot of buzz about her exhibit! Her love of the arts has her involved in volunteering and interning to continue learning and sharing her passion with others.”
Oakey volunteers at KIX in West Homestead teaching art to middle schoolers, writes freelance music reviews of South Florida acts, interns with The Artisan Lounge in Miami for a year, and is currently assisting Soir Zine based in Brickell.
The Artist in the Spotlight program, created in 2010 by Vice Mayor Shelley, seeks to identify local artists and provide them an opportunity to exhibit their work to the local community. Ms. Oakey’s work will be on display through the end of February at the William F. Dickinson Community Center at 1601 N. Krome Avenue and the Historic Homestead Town Hall Museum, 41 N. Krome Avenue, Homestead, FL.
To learn more about Samantha Eden Oakey’s work, visit her website: www.cargocollective.com/seoakey or email her at seoakey@gmail.com
