A man was ticketed for driving an SUV through the Artists’ Guild of Anna Maria Island Guild Gallery in Holmes Beach and leaving the scene of the accident.
Samuel Knowles, 32, of Cortez, was issued citations for leaving the scene of the accident with property damage, no insurance and no vehicle registration in connection with the Feb. 13 crash that damaged the Island Shopping Center store at 5414 Marina Drive. Some 40-50 pieces of art were destroyed.
AGAMI president Wendell Graham said more than $20,000 in artwork and a ceiling-hung display were destroyed or damaged. There also was window damage, according to shopping center manager Hugh Holmes II.
Graham thanked Holmes, the Holmes Beach Police Department, AGAMI members, the manager and some of the customers from the neighboring D. Coy Ducks Tavern for their assistance over the weekend that allowed the gallery to remain open.
The vehicle entered the store about halfway, Graham said.
Knowles admitted to operating the vehicle at the time of the crash, according to the HBPD report.
The vehicle smashed a cement bench on the sidewalk in front of the store into three pieces, ruined the gallery carpeting, damaged artwork and pulled a cable frame-hanging system from the ceiling, Graham said.
The accident trailed large pieces of the glass window onto Gulf Drive, she said.
Graham added she hoped the offense will be punished with community service.
“What’s so bad is when you leave the scene of the accident,” she said.
“What if there was an animal or person on the other side? Luckily, here there wasn’t. But as a society we need to be accountable. It’s cowardly to leave the scene of anything,” she said.
AGAMI members had just left the gallery after cleaning up from a Friday Artwalk event that featured the work of Dorothy Okray in the display window, when Graham got the phone call from the HBPD about the crash.
When she arrived, she said the tavern manager was already sweeping up glass on the shopping center walkway.
The artists with damaged work include Okray, Graham, Judy Strom, Margaret Kelley and Joan Voyles.
“Please pass the word to family, friends and neighbors, we need folks to support us by visiting our wonderful gallery,” Graham wrote to the guild’s online Facebook friends.
“It may be black and blue but it is not down and out,” she continued.
“Show your support by stopping by the gallery and saying hi. We’d appreciate it.”
Knowles was given a March 18 date to appear in court at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
First, the article has one error – it was not Sam Knowles, 32 who was operating the vehicle. It was Louis Knowles, 28. Besides the one misprint I could not agree with the above article more. It is important for a community to stick together and it is cowardly to leave the scene of an accident. Unfortunately when things like this happen people are often times not thinking clearly. It was very kind of Wendell Graham to only recommend community service for the driver. Hopefully the judge will hand down community service along with some type of mandated education regarding how ones actions affect other people.
Was this the Cuban art exhibit?