POINCIANA — Bobbi Mastrangelo isn’t totally certain what the theme “Sculpture: the Ultimate Process” truly means, since like most works of art, it can be open to various interpretations.
“Ultimate usually means the final, the greatest,” she said. “It usually means the end, or the end point — and that’s it, there’s nothing greater.”
If that was the intention at the Orlando Museum of Art, Mastrangelo is indeed getting some very high praise.
“We’re not really an official museum acquisition,” she said. “We’re not a big time exhibit.”
Nevertheless, when the Orlando Museum of Art decided to make their theme for January “Sculpture: the Ultimate Process,” Mastrangelo said it was quite a great privilege that she got invited to display her own sculptures there.
“It gives the artists who are chosen a chance to show their work and meet with the public, who can see their work,” she said. “It’s kind of like a party — a reception, actually.”
Mastrangelo, 74, is an artist who lives at the Solivita active adult community in Poinciana, where she continues to create new works of art, and to display her creative pieces at different venues. Her “Buckeye Water Meter” wall relief was on exhibit at The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio last summer.

Now her work will be displayed at the Orlando Museum of Art as part of the museum’s ongoing 1st Thursdays Art Reception series. Mastrangelo’s piece will be available for the public to see on Thursday, Jan. 5 from 6-9 p.m., when her sculpture will complement the theme of being “the Ultimate Process.”
Mastrangelo is known for her sculpture relief works based on grates, drains, manhole covers and water covers. The piece that she’s bringing to the museum is called “City of Orlando,” and is loosely based on the museum’s own parking lot at Loch Haven Park, with its terra cotta bricks and cast iron sanitary covers.
Known as “Orlando’s original art party,” the 1st Thursdays are presented by the Associates, the OMA’s volunteer support group committed to expanding the museum’s membership and encouraging an appreciation of the visual arts.
“Sometimes they pick one artist out to be the artist of the month to show his or her own artwork, so that’s a bonus to whichever artist is chosen,” Mastrangelo said. “So I have a one night stand on this 1st Thursday. Every month has a different theme, and they have a reception and artists have to submit photos of their work. This month’s theme is ‘Sculpture: the Ultimate Process,’ so I figured I had planned for this a long time ago, so I should try for this.”
Mastrangelo said she was excited about this event, since her only previous showing at the museum had been a contribution to the annual Festival of Trees, which the museum hosts every November, displaying creatively decorated Christmas trees.
“I’ve only done the Festival of Trees for them a few years ago, when I brought little handmade paperwork in shadowbox frames,” she said.
During the Jan. 5 showing, will be a reception where guests can view Mastrangelo’s three relief works and meet the Central Florida sculptors whose artworks have been chosen for this exhibit.
Mastrangelo said her piece was inspired by the museum’s own parking lot — and one particular item on it.
“This one fits what I could do,” she said. “The sculpture I created was kind of a view of their own parking lot with the manhole cover. I artistically created that theme — if you walk outdoors, there is art outside the museum, as well as inside, so I’ve created the beauty of the art we walk over and forget about — the pop art.”
Mastrangelo noted that Solivita, a retirement community on the Polk County side of Poinciana, has a lot of creative artists living and working there. In fact, she’s a part of the Solivita Artisan Guild. Now she’s ready to bring her work to a larger audience in Orlando on Jan. 5.
“We have to go up early that morning, drop off the artwork, then come back for the reception that night, and the guests can see them and buy them,” she said. “That’s a good thing. This is a fascinating process for me. I go back and forth between all the different media, but I have to say, sculpture is my favorite.”
Admission for non-members of the Orlando Museum of Art is $10 at the door. The museum is at 2416 N. Mills Ave. in downtown Orlando. To learn more, log on to www.omart.org.
To learn more about Mastrangelo’s work, email her at grateworks@aol.com or log on to www.bobbimastrangelo.com.

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