This exhibit will be on display starting in August at the Hart Memorial Library. The exhibit will travel to our different branch locations on the following schedule:

Pollinators are an essential part of the natural world. One in three bites of food we eat depends on pollinators. From butterflies and bees to beetles and birds, many kinds of pollinators have evolved within their ecosystems by building unique relationships with plants. This exhibition explores the who, what, when, where, why, and how of pollination, and the essential role that pollinators play in the natural world.

The poster exhibition is funded in part through a generous grant by the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.

Visit the Smithsonian Information Page.

This exhibit will be on display at the Hart Memorial Library starting on Saturday, June 28.

In partnership with Osceola County Corrections and UCF, the Library is exhibiting a set of 44 puppets crafted by inmates of Osceola County Corrections, the result of four weeks of bilingual workshops led by Dr. Tyler Fisher and Leah Basaria in June 2025. Fisher and Basaria used puppetry to help inmates develop job interview skills as part of the Correctional Facility’s classes. Open Scene, a multilingual performing arts non-profit, created kits of puppet-making materials, which the incarcerated students used to create puppet personas for practice interviews.

Research in “applied puppetry” has shown that puppets’ capacity for allowing a puppeteer to adopt various personas can build confidence, linguistic competence, and creativity. Drawing on this research, Fisher and Basaria developed a series of workshops, aptly named the “Art of Interviewing,” in which incarcerated students learn to make puppets and then practice job interviews in Spanish and English. The puppets help soon-to-be-released inmates build confidence and competence. Via their puppet personas, students can let go of self-consciousness and inhibitions. The puppets serve as an empowering extension of the self.

One inmate reflected on his experience using puppets as a proxy: “I can’t feel offended by critical feedback when I have a puppet on my hand.” Initially funded by an “Our Town” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the puppet-making kits were created by Open Scene artists, who included written instructions in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. Distinct from typical children’s puppets, the puppet components were designed to be playful without being childish, featuring human-like qualities and non-human colors, steering clear of any racial connotations.

The students’ unique puppets, displayed at Hart Memorial Library, constitute something Fisher calls “anti-mugshots”: these puppets encourage the public to perceive the incarcerated students as artists, performers, creative agents. Alongside each puppet, a written description offers details about the particular student’s journey and aspirations. The exhibition aims to inspire and uplift, illustrating how creative engagement with incarcerated individuals can spark personal transformation, from incarceration to reentry and reintegration.

This exhibit is on display Thursday, July 17 – Friday, September 19 , 2025.

Based in Central Florida, Dzejak is particularly interested in the natural world and space exploration. Engaging both with Florida’s wildlife and the exploration done at the Space Coast, Dzejak has viewers consider their place in the world, both within it and outside of it.

“My process involves a blend of patient observation and technical precision, allowing me to frame each scene with vibrant compositions and keen attention to detail. I aim to create images that not only showcase the raw power and delicate grace of our natural world but also celebrate our region’s pivotal role in pushing the boundaries of human achievement.”

For more information contact diana@osceolaarts.org 

This exhibit is on display from Thursday, July 10 – Monday, September 8, 2025.

Nelmarie Figueroa is a photographer currently based in Central Florida. She has been photographing since 2013. Figueroa uses this medium to document life and embrace the past. Figueroa is interested in subtleties, such as a shared glance between strangers, the quietness on a busy street, and visible connections between humans.

For Figueroa, photography serves as a medium of preservation — not only for images, but also for emotions, stories, and the essence of moments. The artist aims to slow down time and collect these small happenings as tributes to people.

For more information on the Arts in Public Places Program contact Marilyn@osceolaarts.org