Something new and exciting at our September 14 General Meeting (MEMBERS ONLY)!

ASTRONOMY IN THE ARTS

Join us for our General Meeting at the Emil Buehler Planetarium (members only)

• Our guests speakers this month are ONAJIDE SHABAKA and CAROL PRUSA, two amazing artists who incorporate elements of the night sky and our universe into their paintings and sculptures. They are currently showcased at the Orlando Museum of Art and we encourage you to go see them at the 2024 FLORIDA PRIZE IN CONTEMPORARY ART until AUGUST 25, 2024.
• During our September meeting, while you are sitting in your comfortable chairs, Onajide and Carol will be joining us via Zoom as their art will be displayed on the dome of the the planetarium. It will be a rare opportunity to exchange with these prized artists about their process of incorporating astronomy and stories in their art. We’ll have time for Q&A for your questions as well.

Carol Prusa: “Dark Light” is an accomplished suite of recent works inspired by Prusa’s own life-changing experiences viewing total eclipses of the sun; other pieces pay tribute to pioneering women astronomers. Meticulously created by hand in the ancient silverpoint technique, each piece required hundreds, if not thousands, of hours to complete. Each work, then, must qualify as something of an obsession, and there certainly are worse obsessions than the eternal mysteries of the cosmos, which still beguile the best and the brightest. (Boca Magazine art review, Beauty and Unease Coexist in Carol Prusa’s “Dark Light”, John Thomason, August 23, 2019)

Onajide Shabaka: The crisscrossing juxtapositions within the exhibition echoes the connections Shabaka draws out, like constellations, between formal patterns in plants, and their uses in various cultures and migrations between them. He places planetary movements, in proximity to spirits sensed in the muck, to the religious practices of the African diaspora. And he accompanies these with collected stories of consciousness, grief, determination, resilience, and adaptation. (Emerson Dorsch)

• We will have to tackle some business concerning the society and possibly have a vote on board members term limit spearhearded by Mark Pernal our Board Member At Large officer (to be reconfirmed).
• Our Vp and Director of the Planetarium, Derek Demeter, who was in Europe early August, will talk about his Eise Eisinga Planetarium visit in the Netherlands as well as Christian Huygens house, where the Dutch astronomer discovered Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, on March 25, 1655.
• Then we’ll have our usual club news and of course our member astrophotography showcase. We will be calling for your amazing photos soon, stay tuned!
• And last but not least, we will continue with our new format of workshops! After the meeting, classes will be open to learn about subjects such as “how to handle your Basic German Equatorial Mount” with Chris Hunt from our Loaner Telescope Program and Mark Pernal, our Board Member at Large Officer, and how to study variable stars with your SeeStarS50 lead by Barbara Harris and John Pinto, Board Member at Large, and much more!

As a reminder, our general meetings are for MEMBERS ONLY, but if you are reading this and wanting to participate, all you have to do is join CFAS.

Not only will you be able to enjoy our general meetings, but you will join a community of astronomy and astro-photography enthusiasts who love to share their passion. Your membership includes many benefits such as dark sky sites access, an amazing loaner telescope program with hands-on explanations and tutorials from our staff, great onsite and offsite events and star parties, and much more. So get your membership today and join the fun!

And let’s not forget that we are incredibly fortunate to hold our in-person general meetings at the Emil Buehler Perpetual Trust Planetarium, thanks to our own VP Derek Demeter, director of the Planetarium. This remarkable venue not only offers a stunning environment but also enriches our gatherings with its state-of-the-art technology and immersive space-themed experiences, making each meeting truly inspiring and unforgettable.

Please visit CFAS.org regularly and/or check your groups.io as well as our Facebook Page, to get updates on this upcoming meeting and other events!

Looking forward to seeing you on September 14!

Ad Astra!