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produced paintings and sculptures . I was the arts writer back then for the Sun-Sentinel and wrote about him in the 1990s . I still have one of his whimsical pieces – a cow made out of a flattened Budweiser beer can with metal wire legs and little cork feet . It ’ s even signed .
The busy artist life stopped when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor “ the size of a squash ”.
“ It changed everything ,” he told me in an interview last year . “ Once I saw the pictures of the tumor and began having seizures I lost my aggressiveness and got very depressed . The drugs they gave me made me bloat up and I felt terrible . This went on for ten years until I had a surgery to remove the tumor . They didn ’ t get all of it but they said you are not terminal anymore . A friend of mine snapped me out of it and said you are just feeling sorry for yourself and need to start being creative again . So I stopped all the drugs , detoxed , left Miami Beach , and started painting again .”
He traveled for a while but came back to Palm Beach County 7 years ago , settling into a circa 1947 home in Lake Worth . Then he got really busy , opening his own studio ; starting a new arts district in Boynton Beach in an industrial warehouse area that now hosts art festivals like the recent annual KeroWacked event inspired by the spirit of The Beats ; opening a gallery in downtown Lake Worth then closing it after he opened The Box Gallery on Belvedere in downtown West Palm Beach . The Danieli Art World project finds him painting huge shipping container murals and curating a select group of artists to be part of the festival .
A professed insomniac , Roly ’ s new life finds him working triple overtime to keep all these projects going .
“ My typical day starts at 4:30 a . m . I get up and get on the computer to do my marketing and website updating until about 6 a . m . Then I work with cancer and rehab support groups from 6 to 8 . From 8 a . m . til about 10:30 a . m . I ’ m at my studio painting for various upcoming shows or I ’ m at The Box Gallery or at Danieli ArtWorld . At 6 I go home , rest , eat , shower and get ready for my AA meetings at 8 p . m . By 10 p . m . I ’ m back home and go to bed .”
His ActivistArtistA Gallery is located in Boynton Beach in the industrial arts district and is included in the Art Walks and on the Taste History Tours of Boynton Beach . He creates and displays his paintings there year round , welcoming visitors and hosting events . The colorful warehouse bay doors and vibrant artist scene has become a real highlight of the area and garnered press right away from many arts publications .
“ It ’ s an off the path industrial area ,” says Chang . ” We came in here because we didn ’ t want to be priced out like artists have been in Northwood since there are so many restaurants and stores and new condos now coming that will raise the rent so much that I think we will be here a long time .” w p b m a g a z i n e . c o m 36 w p b m a g a z i n e • j u ly t h r u s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7