Glossary (A-E)

A

ACE: Arts for a Complete Education which is part of the Florida Alliance of Arts and Education.

AEI: Arts Ensemble, International located in Winter Haven, FL.  They are an arts education foundation founded by Niv BenYehuda of CitraSource and host a master arts collection, gallery, studio and classes.

AFTA: Americans for the Arts, the national arts advocacy organization.  Paste the following url into your browser to access their web site: www.artsusa.org.

AOTP: Arts on the Park. A CAB member organization.  They are listed under "Visual & Performing Arts" category.   They are located in Lakeland, FL.

Abstraction: to simplify or alter an object's accurate and representational form.  For example, a stick figure is an abstraction of the human form.

Abstract Art: art that emphasizes line, color, and form rather than recognizable subject matter.

Abstract Expressionism: a movement in art that focuses on the act of painting rather than the accurate representation of nature.

A cappella: without instrumental accompaniment.

Accession/De accession: to add/remove works of art to/from a museum's collection.

Acquisition: an addition of work of art to the museum's collection.  Museums acquire works by purchase, gifts, and donations, or bequests.

Agent: one who is authorized to act for or in the place of another: as a representative.

Americana: all objects made in and for the American market prior to one hundred years ago.

American Renaissance Revival: a style that looked back to the Renaissance as well as to the classical artistic styles of the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. (Go to www.pbs.org for more information from the Antiques Roadshow glossary.)

Animation Art: artwork produced from animated films; may be described as "cels" referring to celluloid on which such films were produced. Some prints on paper also may be produced from animated cels.

Antique: an older object valued because of its aesthetic or historical significance.  It is typically considered an antique if it was created at least 100 years ago from the date of consideration.  The US Customs Department in 1966 made this definition legal.  Items of less time on earth fall into the collectible category of which there are three. (See also the Antiques Roadshow web site for more information/www. pbs.org.)

Appraisal:  An expert or official valuation, as for insurance purposes.

ART: the products of human creativity.

Art Deco: Art Deco has a sophisticated presentation that you would not associate with the common man," says Louise. So there you have it: Art Deco was angular, yet sometimes curved; industrial, yet sometimes Egyptian; genteel-looking, yet made for the masses. (Go to www.pbs.org for more information from the Antiques Roadshow glossary.)

Art-i-facts Magazine: quarterly magazine published quarterly by PAA.  Editor, Ryan Bailey (see individual artist section for his profile).  It is the official local arts and cultural resource for Polk County.

Art Nouveau: Flamboyant, erotic and organic. These are the three words that ANTIQUES ROADSHOW appraiser Arlie Sulka uses to describe the artistic movement known as Art Nouveau, the style that flourished in the decorative arts in both Europe and America at the turn of the 20th century.  It's a very exuberant style," says Arlie, who works at Lillian Nassau Limited, a New York gallery that has been at the center of the Art Nouveau revival over the last half century. "It's based on nature, which makes it come alive. It gives it a sense of movement." The style, which means "new art," gets its name from a design shop, La Maison de l'Art Nouveau, which German entrepreneur Siegfried Bing opened in Paris in1895.  (Go to www.pbs.org for more information from the Antiques Roadshow glossary.)

Arts and Education: The emphasis of the arts in educational settings.

Arts and Healing: This form of arts focuses on the healing potential of art.  It can be in the form of the restoration and celebration of native ecosystems or as simple as working with certain colors in murals to evoke specific emotional and physiological states to aid in one's well being.  Artists, art therapists, social activists and many others may consider themselves healing artists.  It may even be a performer who creates works that discuss important social issues like racism as a means to begin dialogues within communities facing adverse situations. Many hospitals of today, like Winter Haven Hospital in Polk have arts and healing programs.

As Is: Something is wrong with a piece of art or any object, so buyer beware!

B

BAG: Bartow Art Guild, CAB organization located in Bartow, FL. They are listed under our "Visual & Performing Arts" category.

BOD: Board of Directors.  PAA's directors are accessible from a link on our "HOME" page.

Band: a group of musicians organized for ensemble playing.

Brushstroke: the configuration given to paint by contact with the bristles of a brush.

C

CAB: Cultural Arts Board of Polk County.  They are the advisory board of PAA.  They have 31 active members. 

CARP: Community Arts Recognition Program (see link below).  This annual event hosted during National Arts and Humanities month of October each year by PAA.

Canvas: a piece of cloth backed or framed as a surface for a painting.

Cel: derived from the word "celluloid", is the transparent material on which a cartoon character is painted. Prior to 1940, studios used cels made of nitrate, then switched to the more durable acetate cels. In full-length animation features, there are 24 frames per second, compared to contemporary television cartoon practice, which have fewer frames per second. Each cel represents one frame of the film.

Collectible: Artistic and historical treasures less than 100 years old make up the first category. A Tiffany lamp is a prime example.  The second kind of collectibles is something that is mass-produced but that may not have any individual artistic merit. Beanie Babies, Hummel statues and now Pokémon cards fit into this category.

The third type of collectible is an object that gains value because of its associations. A Marilyn Monroe dress became a collectible almost as soon as she took it off; the sequined one she wore while singing "Happy Birthday" to former President John F. Kennedy is even more valuable because of this association. (See Antiques Roadshow web site for more information/www.pbs.org).  But remember, not all antiques are collectible.

Comic Book Art: original artwork created specifically for the publication of (in this case) comic books, graphic novels, posters, and trading cards. It could also include all sorts of other publications (novels, magazines, CDs, games, etc).

Contemporary: art of the recent or current time period.  Often used interchangeably with "modern.

Copyright:: the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something (as a literary, musical, or artistic work).

Creative: marked by the ability or power to create : given to creating--WHAT ENGAGING IN ART HAS THE POWER TO DO FOR A PERSON.

Culture: Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving.  Culture is communication, communication is culture.   it is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.

Curator: a person responsible for the care and research of the museum's collection and the organization of exhibitions for the museum.

D

DCA: Division of Cultural Affairs, State of Florida.  They are the state agency charged with administering programs and grants and providing resources to arts and cultural organizations and individual web sites. 

Dance: an artistic form of nonverbal communication.

Digital camera: a camera that records images as digital data instead of on film.

Docent: a volunteer trained to give educational tours to visitors.

E

EIS: Economic Impact of the Arts.  Studies of this kind focus on the monetary contribution provided to a particular area by the existence of arts and cultural organizations and the people who patronize them.

Embossing: Embossing is the impressing of some kind of decoration or lettering into a surface of metal, leather, textile or paper — any surface you can press into to make a relief.  (Go to www.pbs.org for more information from the Antiques Roadshow glossary.)

Expressionism: (expressionistic, adj.) a movement in art that focused on emotion rather than reality for artistic inspiration.

Continue to: A-E, F-J, K-O, P-T, U-Z

Have an arts or culture word that should be defined on our site?  Send PAA an email to let us know.  Thanks.