The late Leoma Lovegrove lived her life like the paintings she created — with vibrancy, color and joy — and her legacy will live on with her artwork, her friends and family said.
Reproductions of her paintings will continue to be sold at Lovegrove Gallery,1415 Dean St. in downtown Fort Myers. The gallery will reopen April 29 after a celebration of life takes place from 2 to 4 p.m. April 28 at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre in Fort Myers.
Lovegrove made her mark on Matlacha, the quirky fishing village and artsy island gateway between Cape Coral and Pine Island.
Lovegrove died April 10 at 72 following her third battle with breast cancer. She had beaten it twice, but it recurred in early March, said Michael Silberg, her husband of 46 years.
“It really is a blur with her, because she’s always going somewhere, always creating something,” Silberg said. “It’s just insane how creative and outgoing she was. It’s interesting, because when I first met her, she and her mother are very artistic.
“I thought, anybody could do that. Anybody could make a painting. But then I saw people paying hundreds of dollars or thousands of dollars or even tens of thousands of dollars for her art. So, then I thought: No. Not everyone can do that.”
Born Oct. 18, 1952, Lovegrove grew up in Indiana, graduating in 1971 from Merrillville High School and in 1975 from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota.
Lovegrove eventually built her art into a business. She and Silberg lived near Chicago and then Corpus Christi, Texas, before moving to Naples in 1990. They discovered Matlacha a few years later. In 1998, they purchased an 800-square-foot, wood-frame building there and turned it into a tiny art gallery with a huge reach.
Hurricane Ian shut down the Matlacha gallery in September 2022. This led her to reestablish herself in downtown Fort Myers. She reopened the Matlacha gallery again, only to close it for good following more damage from Hurricane Milton last year.
At least three presidents have seen her work, and she met two of them — Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush. Carter and his wife visited Lovegrove at Matlacha, and she gave him a hand-painted portrait of himself during the visit.
Lovegrove supported President Donald Trump, especially during his 2016 campaign, painting a sign with his name on it and affixing it atop her Matlacha gallery.
Not everyone liked it, but her family and friends noted her work transcended politics.
“It did,” Silberg said. “She did.”
The location of her celebration of life demonstrates that. Broadway Palm owner Will Prather leans left; Lovegrove leaned right. But they were close friends and able to navigate their political differences, Prather said.
“She performed (live paintings) in both theaters, both the small theater and our main stage,” Prather said. “We sold her art in our gift shop. It was always some of our bestselling art.”
When Prather’s parents celebrated their 50th anniversary, Lovegrove turned 20 of their favorite photographs into 20 paintings.
“She did it all within a week,” Prather said. “They were remarkable.
“I considered it a real honor that we’ll be celebrating her amazing life and what she accomplished. She was of a different political persuasion. But I will tell you, we’ve both been to the White House. Boy, we could share some good laughs and talk about what an amazing experience it was. We both believe very passionately. It was one of the rare times where we could have differences of opinion, but we could talk about it with each other respectfully.
“She was a bit of an anomaly in the arts community. But she was able to cross all these bridges with people and her art and really just her passion for life. She always came in with a big smile.”
Lisa Sbuttoni, who organizes downtown’s Art Walk and Music Walk events on behalf of the River District Alliance, has known Lovegrove for more than 20 years, and she credited Lovegrove not just as an artist, but as a business owner.
“One thing I can say about Leoma — she was the best marketer in the county, maybe in Southwest Florida,” Sbuttoni said. “She was such a creative artist. She knew what people wanted. How to reach people. She would just think of these things that would come to her.”
Two years ago, Lovegrove worked with Sbuttoni on a 30 days of art and culture project in downtown Fort Myers. They chose September, typically the slowest month of the year for downtown businesses. Lovegrove made one painting and divided it by 30 and signed each piece. They were raffled off.
“When she moved to Dean Street, all of a sudden there was an explosion of businesses on Dean Street,” Sbuttoni said. “It just blossomed.
“She was just such a giving, kind person. Besides being creative and brilliant. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my relationship with her. I just really admire her. I’m going to miss her.”
Lydia Black, former director of Alliance of the Arts in Fort Myers, first met Lovegrove in 2010. She credited Lovegrove with teaching children the joys of painting. Like Prather, she spoke of their political differences — and about how those made each other better.
“Despite our differences, I liked disagreeing with her and arguing with her and coming together on common ground,” Black said. “Art is a powerful way for discussion. Despite Leoma and I not agreeing on almost any political issue, I got great joy from her and her work.
“Leoma was bigger than life. And she also painted bigger than life. She was so creative. Sometimes she just wanted to paint to play. And sometimes she wanted to paint to advocate to paint for a point.”
Lovegrove’s originals will continue to be displayed at the downtown gallery, said Sarah Cushman, Lovegrove’s gallery manager. Reproductions will continue to be sold. The prices start at less than $20 and can range upward to the thousands.
The originals are marked with a piece of cardboard showing an outline of the eccentric glasses Lovegrove loved to wear.
“Those signature glasses make me so happy,” Black said. “It’s a sad moment for the cultural community but for the community as a whole, when you lose that type of big, fun, creative force.”
