Judges Panel

Meet Your Professional Judges

Welcome our team of Judges who have volunteered to assist in this event.

Marcus Thomas

Having been a painter for over thirty years, my commitment to celebrating the natural world through the strokes of a paintbrush is a passionate journey of never ending discovery.

The painted message that results from such a pursuit will hopefully spread awareness and appreciation for the natural beauty we all share. Website Read More

Dennis Goodman

Nature‘s beauty is the source of my strength and inspiration. Growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota, I learned to love the miracle of the nature that surrounded me. In 1985 when I moved to Naples, Florida, I realized that the unique beauty here spoke to me in a way I had never before experienced. I developed a great passion to preserve my vision of the landscape and wildlife of God’s amazing creations through photography.

Christine Adele Moore

Christine Adele Moore is a contemporary mixed media artist based in Bonita Springs, Florida. Born in northern New Jersey in 1971, she was influenced by her artist mother and pursued Fine Art studies at the University of Delaware, The Maryland Institute College of Art, and New College of Southwest Florida.

Hannah Kandel

Hannah’s favorite pastime is making friendship bracelets. When she crafts a friendship bracelet she feels happy, calm, and relaxed. When the bracelet is tied around your wrist via a loved one or friend you’re supposed to make a wish. The wish will come true when the bracelet falls right off!

Marvin D. Rouse

Rouse’s art is about stimulating the truth from your heart through creativity. Shapes, faces, and emotions expressed through
color and thought- provoking images to encourage curiosity, feelings of happiness, joy and imagination, expressing what we all share, life. A God gifted artist with raw talent, it shows in his signature style mostly present in his abstract works.

Mary Popiolek

Born in New Jersey and a full time Naples, FL resident since 1994, Mary displayed artistic talent at a young age. She studied art at Montclair State College and attended various workshops throughout the years. Her artistic expressions include photography, layered photography, drawing, painting, and mixed media.

Robin Joy

Robin Joy is an artist born into a family of musicians and artists who ensured her life was full of art and culture from the beginning. She created fine art drawings as a child which continue to be the core of her work today. Robin’s art appears on fine art prints, both children’s books as well as children’s books for adults, dishes, furniture, wall fabric, silk fabrics and more.

In Loving Memory of John Bartoldus

Growing up in New York City I always liked to draw, but with no formal art education, I went to work on Wall Street and then for an advertising agency before moving to Naples in 1987 to pursue yet another career, real estate. At my open houses, I would sit in the front yard and sketch and then give the artwork to the owner when I sold the house. Soon, other realtors and home owners commissioned me to draw their homes.

Marcus Thomas’s Bio

Having been a painter for over thirty years, my commitment to celebrating the natural world through the strokes of a paintbrush is a passionate journey of never ending discovery.

The painted message that results from such a pursuit will hopefully spread awareness and appreciation for the natural beauty we all share….

The power of art provides limitless inspiration… “Flight of the Mind”

Born 1959
Became quadriplegic in 1986
Oil, watercolors
Resides in Florida and North Carolina

Dennis Goodman’s Bio

Nature’s beauty is the source of my strength and inspiration. Growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota, I learned to love the miracle of the nature that surrounded me.

In 1985, when I moved to Naples, Florida, I realized that the unique beauty here spoke to me in a way I had never before experienced. I developed a great passion to preserve my vision of the landscape and wildlife of God’s amazing creations through photography. And so my journey began.

I got married, started a family, and a few businesses along the way. Nevertheless, my camera was always close at hand. When I had the time, I went in search of secret places and uncommon perspectives. I found ways to incorporate my love of photography into my everyday life.

As I shared these images with friends and family, I often heard, “Why aren’t you sharing these with more people?” After a while, I thought, “Why aren’t I?”

Drawing on my own, personal inspiration and the loving support of my wife and family, I took a leap of faith and pursued my passion by opening a gallery. I devoted myself to photography.

Since then, I’ve learned what it means to work and grow within my true calling. Most of my work is focused on the Florida Everglades. The connection I feel for our land and its inhabitants is indescribable. It’s a spiritual expedition that includes the endless vistas populated by birds, alligators, snakes, diverse foliage, and so much more.

There is no better reward than searching for—and sometimes finding—that perfect moment and capturing it in a photograph. Sharing these images with others provides even greater inspiration as I share the stories I see unfolding right in front of me.

I hope that my photography helps people realize how important it is to observe and protect the natural world around us. I look forward to the stories of the Everglades continuing to be told for generations to come.

Christine Adele Moore's Bio

Christine Adele Moore is a contemporary mixed media artist based in Bonita Springs, Florida. Born in northern New Jersey in 1971, she was influenced by her artist mother and pursued Fine Art studies at the University of Delaware, The Maryland Institute College of Art, and New College of Southwest Florida.
 
While the subjects of Moore’s work varies, all paintings are characterized by three consistencies: layering, reflective media, and texture. 
 
The layers offer complexity and mystery, the reflective media infuses a kinetic element to the work which is exciting and adds life, the texture breaks the visual surface tension. Your eyes see the texture and wonder if it’s really there or if it’s an illusion and you are immediately immersed in the painting.  
 
Ultimately, these elements come together using representational imagery to convey visceral emotion. 
 
In 2019, Moore transitioned from a 26-year career as a freelance artist to interior designers to becoming a festival artist, allowing her greater creative freedom and direct interaction with art enthusiasts.
 
Moore served as the artist-in-residence at the Center for the Arts Evergreen in Colorado from September to November 2024. This residency provided her with the opportunity to immerse herself in her work and engage with a new community.
 
Her award winning art has been featured in publications such as Colorado Serenity Magazine, Spotlight Magazine, Florida Design, and others.  She has been the featured artist of the 2021 Artigras Art Festival and will be the Featured Artist for the 2025 Artfest Fort Myers Festival. Christine is represented by gallery Gaia on Main, Park City, Utah.
 

For more information about Christine Adele Moore and her work, visit her official website at christineadelearts.com.
You can also follow her on social media platforms:

Hannah Kandel’s Bio

Hannah Rose Kandel’s mother had a very typical and happy pregnancy. At nine months of age, her parents started to see some warning signs of possible hearing loss or autism. Her father is a neurologist and her mother has her master’s degree in Special Education. Hannah had the BAER (Brain Auditory Evoke Response) test done at Naples Community Hospital. The test was negative, meaning that her hearing was fine. Hannah’s parents took her too many different doctors and she was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disability-Not Otherwise Specified). Hannah didn’t sleep very much, had stopped talking, and was unable to know where her body was in space. Her parents put together a multidisciplinary team; speech/language therapist, an occupational therapist, and a neuro psychologist. Intervention therapies were started immediately!

Hannah has had a very unusual educational journey. Her parents were always trying to find the right programs to challenge her in social, academic, and independent living skills. She was able to learn language using the PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) developed by Dr. Andy & Lori Bondy. Dr. Bondy came to her home and helped her family and therapists learn this mode of communication. Hannah was mainstreamed for preschool and kindergarten while also attending ESE (Exceptional Student Education) classes at Vineyards Elementary School.

Hannah started “talking” when she was around 5 years old. She had what her parents called “Hannahisms” – interesting ways of how she viewed the world. Such as, she called arm pits “tickle pits”. When she juiced oranges she called it “making the oranges dizzy”. And she loved to take the paper off all of her crayons because she wanted to have “naked crayons”.

After many years of special education, Hannah was mainstreamed full time at Seacrest Country Day School. She had an aide/shadow teacher with her in the classroom. The plan was to fade the support but she ended up needing the support the whole 7 years she attended SCDS.

Hannah has Seven big events that have happened in her life so far. The first one is her 2005 Bat Mitzvah. She studied for two full years so she could become an adult in the eyes of her Jewish Community.

The second event was her 8th Grade Graduation at Seacrest Country Day School. She planed to enrolled at Naples High School, but didn’t work out. So she went to Journey’s Academy for 6 months, but  it closed down in the summer of 2009. Later, she was working on the TABE and GED practice books, but it wasn’t the correct match for her so she took part in the American School, which is a high school program online to earn her high school diploma.

The third event was getting her service dog HoneyBun. HoneyBun got her service training from Paws Assistance Dogs right here in Naples, Florida. Hannah and her mother trained with her for two years. She loves HoneyBun so much! Hannah says that HoneyBun keeps her calm. Her responsibilities with HoneyBun include feeding her, walking her, and making sure she is loved.

Her fourth event was her Certificate of Completion Graduation at Eden, now Lily Academy in 2010 where she sang “Never Forget” and give the commencement speech. She had a big celebration at home and also went to Walt Disney World with her teachers and friends.

The fifth event was when her artwork was chosen to be put on a United Nations postage stamp. Hannah’s artwork was called “Crazy Love“. Everyone in her family flew up NYC to attend the Opening Bell at the NY Stock Exchange and to attend the UN Worldwide Autism Awareness panel discussion. People from all over the WORLD were in attendance. They wore headphones so they could understand all the different languages. After this experience, Hannah did a lot of public speaking at schools, rotaries, and religious groups.

Hannah’s sixth event was in 2013 when she started working on getting a traditional high school diploma with the online American School. She completed and received her High School Diploma in Jan 2015. Hannah started working on her AA Degree at FSW (Florida Southwestern State College) in the summer of 2015.

Hannah’s seventh event was her Dan Marino Foundation Program Graduation on June 28, 2018, where she completed all her hard work and dedication with her teachers and classmates to be social and interactive in the program. She also did the Pledge of Allegiance with Emilio Rodriguez-Negron from the Dan Marino Foundation Program on the Fort Lauderdale campus to lead the students and teachers from both the Fort Lauderdale and Miami campuses to dictate along with the Pledge of Allegiance at the graduation ceremony.

Hannah really likes working and earning money! She has worked at a Jewish temple for 13 months, an organic grocery store/cafe/clothing store for 4 & 1/2 years, worked at a local movie theater, and an internship at the State Attorney’s Office in Miami, Florida too.

She is currently looking for jobs from Indeed and Glassdoor on the computer at home. She received her 3 certifications in MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist) at Dan Marino Foundation Program on the campus of FIU in Miami, Florida. She passed her certified tests in Word, Excel, and Outlook on the MOS track at Dan Marino Foundation Program there in Miami.

Through the years Hannah has developed many hobbies; she danced for 20 years (ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, Irish Step), took art classes and cooking classes, did horseback riding, theater (Seacrest Country Day School, The Naples Players, Florida Repertory Theater in Fort Myers, Florida), and gymnastics. She works out almost every day & joined WeightWatchers, Thinner Dinners for Two, and Hungry Girl to stay healthy in her mind and her body. Hannah would like to become a children’s book author.

Marvin D. Rouse’s Bio

IN MY ART I LIKE TO CAPTURE THE EMOTIONS AND IMAGINATION THAT WE ALL SHARE, SPEAKING WITHOUT WORDS, CREATING THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN, USING COLORS AND MOVEMENTS TO EXPRESS MY UNIQUE VOICE.

Born May 1976, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Marvin D. Rouse first recognized his interest in colors and was inspired by his Uncle’s quick sketch of a racecar the young artist began drawing at the age of five. By twelve he is excelling in art at his school employing his skills as a young entrepreneur selling his art on t-shirts and jean jackets, winning the t-shirt design contest all four years in high school. He started his business at eighteen-years-old, providing local Indianapolis homeowners and businesses his artistic design services, completing everything from album covers to large scale murals, including his young clothing line, Rouse, had become a real local success.

In May of 1998, Rouse relocated from Indianapolis to Naples, FL, with a dream to further his career as an artist. The opportunity came about during spring break in 1998 with his girlfriend now wife, when her father offered her a position at his new dealership of which they decided yes and to move in 3 weeks from Indianapolis to Naples Fl. Upon arriving, he established his business as Rouse Designs, LLC, providing the community a creative service built mostly through word of mouth. Now, 27 years later, the artist has a growing presence, and has a creative demand from Naples to Indianapolis.

Rouse’s art is about stimulating the truth from your heart through creativity. Shapes, faces, and emotions expressed through color and thought- provoking images to encourage curiosity, feelings of happiness, joy and imagination, expressing what we all share, life. A God gifted artist with raw talent, it shows in his signature style mostly present in his abstract works. He is prolific, being commissioned to paint everything from pets to exotic cars. In 2023, he held successful exhibitions Indianapolis Airport & BUTTER Fine Art Fair, in 2018 Downtown Naples Arts Center’s Dinner with the Artist, a Pop-Up Gallery with UAC in Venetian Village where he sold a painting for over $10k. and in 2021 a group show “Three M’s Synergy” in 2021 at the Sydney& Berne Davis Art Center. where he was featured in GULFSHORE LIFE Magazine.

In April 2022 Rouse moved into his dream Downtown Naples Studio * Gallery at 853 4th Ave, S. 34102. Rouse’s passion for community has supported multiple local organizations of Collier County through his gift and inspiration of the arts, they include: Greater Naples YMCA, Child’s Path, M.S. Centers of South West FL, Special Olympics, Naples Art, Naples Zoo, C’ Mon Children’s Museum, Legal Aid of South West FL. Naples Ferrari, Inn on 5th, Cars on 5th, Saint Matthews House, and the STARabilty Foundation.

www.rouseart.com

Mary Popiolek’s Bio

Born in New Jersey and a full time Naples, FL resident since 1994, Mary displayed artistic talent at a young age. She studied art at Montclair State College and attended various workshops throughout the years. Her artistic expressions include photography, layered photography, drawing, painting, and mixed media.

Favorite subjects are abstracts, flowers, cars, landscapes, still life, B&W, and quotes on photos.

She also combines photography with her interest in numerology and creates “Essence Portraits/Digital Frames”. A technique which layers a portrait photo that customer provides, with positive personality characteristics based on their numerology.

“My desire is to uplift and inspire”

Robin Joy’s Bio

Robin Joy is an artist born into a family of musicians and artists who ensured her life was full of art and culture from the beginning. She created fine art drawings as a child which continue to be the core of her work today. Having traveled in Europe from an early age on and then living in Asia, Robin was deeply moved by the miniature artwork collections in Taipei. This love of finely detailed minutiae continually influences her work. Robin’s art appears on fine art prints, both children’s books as well as children’s books for adults, dishes, furniture, wall fabric, silk fabrics and more.

In 2007, Robin opened her gallery/showroom in New York City’s West Village, all the while creating installations in other galleries and businesses throughout the city. Her graphics have been licensed on lighting fixtures and origami paper selling throughout the US.

September 2017, at the Musee de la Toile de Jouy, in the town of Jouy-en-Josas, next to Versailles, France, Robin had a solo exhibition for the entire month. The two Patrimone Days September 15th and 16th, she was at the Musee doing an interactive exhibit with visitors to the Museum. See blog for article that was written for the Toile de Jouy Foundation Website.

Currently, her new gallery “beJOYed” by Robin Joy in downtown Naples, Florida showcases her large wall art as well as the beJOYed line of products highlighting her designs on leggings, t-shirts, scarves, children books, note cards and dishes.

John Bartoldus’s Bio

Growing up in New York City I always liked to draw, but with no formal art education, I went to work on Wall Street and then for an advertising agency before moving to Naples in 1987 to pursue yet another career, real estate.

At my open houses, I would sit in the front yard and sketch and then give the artwork to the owner when I sold the house. Soon, other realtors and home owners commissioned me to draw their homes.

With a growing portfolio of local scenes, I created my first Naples Calendar in 1998 and it quickly became a best seller at fine stores throughout Naples. In 2002, I added a Restaurant Guide and a list of year-round activities from parades to art shows and festivals.

When it was too hot and humid to sketch outside, I took pictures of scenes I wanted to paint which led me to offering my photos in large format wrapped-canvas pieces which now adorn many homes and offices throughout Naples.

You never know where life will take you . . .