October, 2025

By Emma Witmer, Alyssa Riley

Southwest Florida’s art world enters a vibrant new chapter. Private dealers are opening to the public, new galleries are staking their ground and major institutions are curating with fresh eyes. This is the season for provocative exhibitions that challenge and inspire. Here’s to a cultural calendar that celebrates creativity in every form.

MASTERPEICE COLLECTION, local art adviser SH Modern opens its vault for its new Fort Myers gallery. 

Fort Myers art consultancy SH Modern pulls back the curtain with its new College Parkway gallery, granting the public rare access to works once reserved for private collectors. Sallie Hirshberg established SH Modern in 2014 after more than a decade as a co-founder at Boston’s esteemed Galerie d’Orsay, where she staged landmark exhibits such as New England’s first Salvador Dalí showcase. Now, she draws on those connections to bring works from artists such as Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso and Roy Lichtenstein to Southwest Florida. 

This month, the gallery hosts its grand opening with the debut of Modern Masters (Nov. 8 — Dec. 31), featuring works by modernists Dalí, Picasso, Henri Matisse and Marc Chagall. Future exhibits will highlight acclaimed contemporary American artists like large-scale printmaker Donald Sultan, graffiti artist Amber Goldhammer and abstract landscape painter Kathy Buist. As the gallery hits its stride, Sallie also plans to develop a lecture series, creating a forum for collectors and aficionados to deepen their appreciation of fine art. —Alyssa Riley