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Fabulous Fired Arts Fair

December 14, 2025

We celebrated the festive season and our first anniversary in Hollywood with our first Fired Arts Fair! The celebration included a visit from the city’s mayor, Josh Levy, who toasted the museum’s success and chatted with guests and the local artists participating in this fabulous event. Mayor Levy shot videos of his visit and posted them on social media.

Videos were also posted by Mason Koma, our volunteer photographer, who captured the highlights of the day. Mason was visiting Florida at the invitation of Belle Volatile, our newest WMODA team member. Both are recent graduates of Penn State (class of ’25) and with his engineering degree in hand, Mason is now marching toward a career in the Army. With a lifetime passion for photography, he enjoys using his skills to create pictorial and oral histories, and we were so pleased he offered his sharp eye to capture this holiday event for WMODA.

Mason also interviewed our friend, artist Alex Meiklejohn, who was demonstrating the art of throwing miniature ceramics on the potter’s wheel. Alex, who is about to turn 75, has made over 85,000 miniatures during his long career. He claims he has never “worked” a day in his life, as he has been doing his pottery. In Alex’s words, “I got lucky.”

Mirela Popovici also demonstrated on the potter’s wheel during the Fired Arts Fair and shared the process of creating her stylized Christmas trees, while also doing brisk business with her flame-worked Murano-style glass beads. Several other local artists were selling jewelry at the fair, including Esther Gold with her iconic Art Nouveau and Art Deco designs, Wendy Chercass with her intricate bead-work bracelets, and Christine Rosasco, who incorporates gemstones and butterfly wings into her designs. Kiki Sylvain is also known for her beautiful butterfly artworks inspired by the conservation efforts to save their habitats here in South Florida.

The WMODA “Glass Girls” were reunited at the fair, sharing their latest designs. Chelsea Rousso with her fazzoletto-style bowls, Anne Orvieto with her floral panels, Scherry Donato with her new Peace and Love ASL signs and Lori Brown with her glass jewelry all put on a great show. Former student, Ellen Fischer, has also graduated to selling her own designs. Many guests signed up for future workshops hosted by these talented ladies.

We also welcomed Anna Paula Cibin from Italy, with her Joyful Fish paintings on silk velvet, accessorized with Murano glass beads. She is busy creating an installation inspired by the Venetian lagoon for our upcoming Splash exhibit. Public artist Lloyd Goradesky organized fun activities for kids with his iconic hearts, which were popular with our youngest guests. A documentary video about his Let Love Your Way project is in the works and will be privately screened at WMODA on February 8.

Thank you to all the staff and volunteers who made the event such a success. A special shout-out to our youngest volunteer, Elena Bermudez, who assisted the jewelry artists with their sales. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and keep an eye on our website for many more festive events like the Fired Arts Fair coming to WMODA in 2026!

Read about Chelsea Rousso’s next creative glass workshop at WMODA.

Jan. 25 - Bowled Over with Joy Creative Glass Workshop - WMODA | Wiener