Art festival producer knows how to add a personal touch

As an aspiring photojournalist fresh out of art school, Richard Sullivan dreamed of touring remote areas of the world, capturing

Richard Sullivan COURTESY PHOTO life and nature in the raw as a National

Geographic photographer.

Unfortunately, that dream never came to be. But don't feel sorry for Mr. Sullivan. National Geographic may not have materialized, but his career has taken him to places and introduced him to people that many are only fortunate enough to see in the pages of magazines.

In the early 1980s, MTV came on the scene, bringing songs to life on the small screen. Wanting in on the action, friends of Mr. Sullivan's started making music videos. Intrigued by MTV's growing popularity, he joined his friends and soon his eye for photography morphed into a talent for film and television production.

For years, Mr. Sullivan hobnobbed with everyone from Steven Tyler of Aerosmith to James Taylor. "I not only got to the meet them, I had lunch with them," he says.

His work in music videos then opened the door to filming high-end commercials for products including Reebok. He traveled around the globe, from Milan to Brazil, filming famous athletes, and while he enjoyed the smaller crew and the traveling, the endless hotel room stays eventually got to him.

Burned out, he fled to his family's house in quiet Naples to restore and renew himself. His intent was for this to be a temporary stop, but as the story goes, he met a girl and soon he was calling Naples home.

His plans to stay meant finding something to occupy his time, so he approached The von Liebig Art Center, which had just opened, about raising funds to build a dark room on the premises. His success in that fundraising quest prompted The von Liebig board of directors to seek his assistance with its most famous event, the Naples National Art Festival, a two-day event that attracts high-caliber artists from far and wide.

When Mr. Sullivan left nearly seven years later, The von Liebig's event had gone from being rated the 11th to the

fifth best festival in the nation by Sunshine

Artist Magazine.

"The von Liebig was like going to graduate school," Mr. Sullivan says. "It helped me spread my wings."

Today, Mr. Sullivan produces art festivals throughout Florida and as far north as Nashville, Tenn., through his own business, Boulderbrook Productions, named after the brook he caught frogs in near his Massachusetts childhood home.

Committing himself to 12 shows a year, Mr. Sullivan carefully selects communities that have the right demographics, a functional locale, adequate parking, and more importantly, a love of art. To date, he's organized festivals in Marco Island, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Sarasota, Boca Grande, Sanibel and beyond.

Each show starts months in advance with the choosing of the artists. He keeps his shows to around 100 artists who exhibit everything from sculpture, woodworking, drawing, mixed media, jewelry, glass work, ceramics and photography. "We are mostly a fine art festival with some fine crafts," he says.

Mr. Sullivan has another all-important item on his agenda: finding a local notfor profit that can provide area knowledge, ties to publicity and marketing, and volunteers. "I couldn't take 50 people to every show," he explains. "This way it becomes a community event." As a show of his gratitude, he gives that organization a sizeable donation.

Next month, Boulderbrook Productions makes it mark on Naples with its first-ever Naples Masters Art Festival, coming to the Collection at Vanderbilt the weekend of March 7-8. Its charity partner is the Harry Chapin Food Bank.

Since artists follow the snowbirds, Mr. Sullivan's busiest time is definitely the winter months, yet he remains committed to holding just 12 shows annually. "I have to be there. I can't just organize and go home," he said. "It's all about that personal touch."