Celebrating Pool Party: The Pool in American Art—A Timely and Reflective Exhibition at the Mennello Museum of American Art
Installation view. Pool Party: The Pool in American Art. Curated by Shannon Fitzgerald, Mennello Museum Executive Director with Katherine Page, Curator of Art and Education.
In the midst of Orlando’s intense, hot, never-ending summer days, Pool Party brings a sense of enjoyment and immediate visual relief from the blinding heat. It also offers a safe space—thoughtfully and brilliantly curated—that invites visitors to understand and reflect on the history and evolving meaning of the Pool in American Art. The exhibition presents a rare opportunity to experience works on loan from leading Florida museums and private collections, as well as from artists based in Orlando and across the United States.
Installation view. Pool Party: The Pool in American Art.
Pool Party, immerses the viewer in profound considerations about this architectural form, examined through a historical lens from the mid-1900s to today. It reveals the pool as a symbol of status and lifestyle, as well as a space deeply connected to culture, class, race, labor, service, family, and the environment—seen in the work of seventeen iconic and contemporary artists:
Alex Katz, Amy Bennett, Anastasia Samoylova, Andy Sweet, Andy Warhol, Bruce Davidson, David Hockney, Derrick Adams, Ed Ruscha, Ericka Sobrack, Isca Greenfield-Sanders, Jay Lynn Gomez, Joel Meyerowitz, Maritza Caneca, Peter Schreyer, Ridley Howard, Slim Aarons.
1. The Curatorial Lens: Conversations in the Gallery with Executive Director Shannon Fitzgerald. Works by Ridley Howard (front) and Isca Greenfield-Sanders (back). 2. Works by Isca Greenfield-Sanders. 3. Conversations in the Gallery with Keidra Navaroli, Independent Curator & Adjunct Faculty at the University of Central Florida with Katherine Page, Mennello Museum Curator of Art and Education. 4. Works by Derrick Adams.
“As we celebrate the joys of summer, this exhibition offers an opportunity to explore the multiple stories that shaped the American phenomenon and the still-relevant fascination with swimming pools and their cultural significance.”
In the Conversations in the Gallery series, Curator Keidra Navaroli reflected on how artist Derrick Adams reimagines the pool as a safe and celebratory space, directly confronting a painful history in which Black communities were excluded from such places—even here in Florida, within living memory. His work transforms the pool from a site of trauma into one of resilience, connection, and renewal.
Orlando artists: 1. “Drift” by Ericka Sobrack 2. “Swimming Pool at Night, Langford Hotel, Winter Park, Florida” by Peter Schreyer.
Ericka Sobrack’s “Drift” brings a contemporary, familiar scene to life at an unexpected time, uncovering—through a masterful arrangement of form, texture, and light—an emotional space that relates to feelings of loneliness, uneasiness, and what-if situations. Peter Schreyer’s documentary photograph—remarkable for its quiet, elegant beauty—holds historical significance, capturing the former Langford Resort Hotel before its demolition, now the site of the Alfond Inn in Winter Park, Florida.
Sobrack’s painting and Schreyer’s gelatin silver photography print reveal the pool and its environment uninhabited, where the only witness is the viewer, quietly participating in its implied silence. In these night scenes, the stillness of the water and the shadows embrace the soft and mysterious glow of the “Blue Hour”.
Amy Bennett, Blue Hour, 2016, oil on canvas. Courtesy of the Artist and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York
1. The Curatorial Lens: Conversations in the Gallery with Executive Director Shannon Fitzgerald. Works by Anastasia Samoylova. 2. Installation view. Works by Miami-based artists: Anastasia Samoylova and Maritza Caneca. 3. Curators Keidra Navaroli and Katherine Page. 4. Installation view. Left: “Portrait of an Affluent Family” by Jay Lynn Gomez. Right: Works by Samoylova. 5. Detail of “Portrait of an Affluent Family” by Jay Lynn Gomez.
Anastasia Samoylova’s photography prints document Florida's evolving landscape, addressing the environmental impact of over-development and the aftermath of storms. Through her work, she brings attention to the vulnerability and fragility of both, the the built and natural environment.
Jay Lynn Gomez, in her piece Portrait of an Affluent Family from the Rollins Museum of Art collection, turns attention to the unseen labor of pool maintenance and family care. Almost imperceptibly, she embeds marginalized Latinx migrant workers—whose efforts keep these spaces alive and cared for—painting them in acrylic on the surface of magazine pages.
Opening Night: Miami-based visual artist, photographer, and cinematographer Maritza Caneca by her installation and Katherine Page, Mennello Museum Curator of Art and Education.
Maritza Caneca’s large-scale photographs transform the pool’s architectural form into minimalist abstractions, emphasizing angles, lines, and the different textures of this space. The perception of depth is removed, creating layers of dancing light and monochromatic shapes. She further explores design details in three-dimensional forms, such as her hand-crafted tile piece: COPACABANA.
“I am always looking for the geometry, the architecture of the place, the movement of the water, the light, and the reflections”
Isca Greenfield-Sanders. Yellow Suit Diver (Detail), color aquatint etching on Somerset velvet white paper, published by Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkely, CA. Courtesy of the Artist and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York.
The exhibition brings together a rich variety of media—photography, paintings, monotypes, aquatint etchings, and three-dimensional objects—creating a unified experience across time, with artists from the past and the present. As viewers engage with the works, the meaning of The Pool in American Art gradually unfolds. Each work highlights the uniqueness of each artist’s approach, while the experience as a whole feels natural and precise, similar to a synchronized swimming performance—graceful in its unity, yet distinct in every choreographed movement.
It is also interesting how a pool—a seemingly simple geometric form—can carry complex meanings shaped by the different experiences of those who interact with it. For some, it represents a safe, joyful space; for others, it may still feel unsafe, where fear, limited access, cost, generational gaps, disabilities, or safety concerns create barriers. The museum plays a vital role in bridging these gaps, offering awareness, learning opportunities, and support. Through this exhibition and its programs, visitors gain not only a greater understanding of the history of The Pool in American Art but also recognition of how these spaces continue to shape inclusion, equity, and shared experiences within our community.
Pool Party: The Pool in American Art is on view at the Mennello Museum through September 28, 2025.
Published August 29, 2025 by Women in the Arts, Inc.