Sean Salyards
Congé: Cape Coral, FL 33993
February 25 - March 27, 2011
Opening Reception:
Friday Feb.25 6-9pm
Artist Statement:
"I made my first trip to the Cape when I was in grade school, visiting my grandfather Walter for the
first time. Since then, I made numerous trips back, although things changed. When Walter was
diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, my father Michael decided to purchase a home in the Cape. In 2004,
Hurricane Charley ravaged the area. Walter passed away in December of 2006. In 2007, while my father counted the days until he could take permanent residence in the Cape, he unexpectedly died of cancer, days before his 55th birthday. When the housing market collapsed in 2008, Lee County Florida (Cape Coral), which had previously led the nation in home sales, subsequently led the
nation in foreclosures. The Cape no longer reminds me of my childhood memories. It is overrun
with unoccupied and partially built homes. Businesses have closed and the crime rate has
skyrocketed. The work I have begun is in reaction to my astonishment of what the Cape has
become."
-Sean Salyards
