Bianca Selket is a second generation Sarasota native with a desire to reflect the world she was born in. Always beautiful but flecked with painful reminders of the ancestral oppression and struggles it took to forge her into the freedom loving socially conscious artist she is today. As an African American she feels both extremely blessed to live in this day and age and also cursed to repeat generational patterns, if the philosophies and traumas of being alive that peaks her childlike curiosity are kept inside instead of expressed the best way she knows how. Fine art, both representational and surreal.

I was extremely lucky to be thought of and invited to participate in this opportunity to share some of my own personal and Sarasota history. I was fortunate enough to be able to carve some time out of my schedule as a new mother to a lovely daughter named Sloane and a teacher of art to children kindergarten through 7th grade to get out early mornings and get a little more done each day that I could. It was so great to see all the works expressed in Burns Court and just one more reason that I love being from this amazing city. Adding my own contribution no matter how small is a dream I hold dear to my heart and is my pleasure to share with everyone one lucky enough to walk the amazing streets. The fact that my subjects are my own family member's is icing on the cake.

Two amazing men in my family. My grandfather, Thomas William Clyburn I. WWII veteran that regularly sang on for WSPB. Sire of 6. Next, my Uncle Bill, Dr. Thomas William Clyburn II, first male to desegregate Sarasota. Now a retired psychiatrist and author of book, "I Am Because We Are".