At Winter Park Magazine, we’ve never used the same artist for consecutive covers—until now. Don Sondag, whose vivid image of rowers on Lake Maitland graced the summer issue and created a sensation among readers, is back for the fall issue with an untitled view of Park Avenue.
In fact, this painting—which was sold at the 2024 Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival—marks the seventh time since 2014 that we’ve selected a cover by Sondag, one of the most respected artists in Winter Park.
Park Avenue is always iconic, of course. But the image is also timely because in this issue we have a story by Rona Gindin about Briarpatch Restaurant, a longtime local favorite eatery that’s shown where the yellow awnings are hung.
Although the cover shows buildings, Sondag may be most renowned for his portraits of prominent people—including the iconic image of Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood) that hangs in the lobby of Tiedtke Concert Hall on the campus of Rollins College.
But Sondag also loves to paint outdoors scenes, especially those he finds around his verdant hometown. He’s a favorite, not surprisingly, at the annual Winter Park Paint Out, sponsored by the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens.
The Polasek also staged an exhibition dubbed Venetian Canals of Winter Park: The Art of Don Sondag in 2020. An image from that exhibition appeared on the fall 2020 cover of Winter Park Magazine.
“I enjoy the challenge of capturing the outdoors and color,” says Sondag, a native of Winter Park. “I like the work of plein air painters and photorealists. My large-scale landscapes combine both of these techniques.”
With a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, Sondag also studied painting and portraiture at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League in New York City.
In addition to painting, Sondag teaches at the Crealdé School of Art, where he joined the faculty in 1990. He has also taught at Seminole State College, Walt Disney Imagineering and Walt Disney Feature Animation.
He has been associated with McRae Art Studios—a shared exhibition and display space for about 20 of the region’s most prominent artists—for 28 years.
Sondag has accepted portrait commissions from the Dr. P. Phillips Foundation, Tupperware Brands Corporation and the University of Central Florida, among many other institutional clients. His work has also been featured on posters for Casa Feliz and the spring Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival.
You can see Sondag’s paintings at the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival, slated for Saturday and Sunday, October 12 and 13, in Central Park. Other Sondag originals are on display at Arts on Douglas in New Smyrna Beach. For more information, call 386-428-1133 or visit artsondouglas.net.