Bob Jimenez has played major roles in the communication industry for most of his career. His background in public relations and corporate affairs includes positions with several high-profile companies including The Walt Disney Company and Cox Enterprises. It may seem unlikely that owning an art gallery – Solana Fine Art – would become his passion, but not if you ask him.
“Art is communication,” he told the32789. “It’s about what was in the artists’ minds while they were creating and what they were trying to convey.”
Jimenez was born in Puerto Rico, but his family moved to Florida soon after. They eventually settled in Central Florida where he attended Forest Lake Education Center. He earned a degree in Business Administration from Southern Adventist University and an MBA in International Business, Marketing from Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College. It was during his education that Jimenez was introduced to art.
“I took an art history course in college and did a project on the Spanish painter, Francisco Goya,” he recalls. “That’s where my real appreciation for art started; an admiration for styles, mediums, techniques.”
After graduation, public relations positions at Young & Rubicam (Y&R), Opera Orlando, and The Walt Disney Company would eventually lead to a 20-year career at Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises. He and his wife, Julie, had already started a small art collection, but their new city offered new venues where new works could be discovered.
“We visited galleries in Atlanta and Charleston, then traveled to larger cities like New York,” he said. “I noticed that galleries in each city offered a little something different; customer attention, space, lighting that brings out the best in collections.”
What began as admiration would lead to appreciation; then Jimenez decided to begin a second education. “I was on a quest to visit the great museums and galleries of the world.” Trips to France, Spain, Russia, and The Netherlands were made as he majored in art and minored in environments. “You can have the beautiful museums, but there’s this undercurrent of talent that’s forming and emerging in local galleries,” he said. “That ecosystem is important for a vibrant art community.”
As his education continued, his collection grew and along with it grew the sense that his extensive career may require a reboot. “It was during COVID that I started thinking it might be time to move on,” he said. “You do something for such a long time, and you just feel like you need a change of direction.” A move back to Central Florida was made in late 2023 and after a few months of relaxation, the transition began.
“I was just sitting in our living room and became fixated on a piece of art, and it just hit me,” Jimenez said. “I wondered if I could do something to help connect people with art, but then I realized I can’t do anything until I visit every art gallery in town.”
His quest refocused on a local level, and he began talking to collectors and artists, taking notes, and comparing them with everything he’d seen on his previous journeys. He understood that properly curating collections was vital, but finding the right home for them was equally important. “I spoke with designers and custom home builders, and that’s when I decided to reach out to Zane.”
Jimenez had for years been acquainted with Zane Williams of Winter Park-based Z Properties and wanted him to be involved in designing the gallery space. Jimenez only had to mention a need for space and natural light before he was told there was a space ready for him. Williams had designed a Winter Park office building at 1104 Solana Ave. that once housed a law firm but was currently in need of a tenant.
“I saw the address as we drove up and was instantly intrigued because 11/04 is my birthday,” Jimenez said. “The street name, Solana, also grabbed my attention; it’s a Spanish word that means ‘sunny place.’ So, that was the inspiration for the name.”
The building’s modern design and large windows were a perfect match, as was the spacious ground floor. But second-floor office spaces offered smaller exhibit areas that could each host their own artist. “There’s so much we can do with the space; a custom build wouldn’t have been more perfect.”
Solana Fine Art will welcome the community on December 3 with an opening lineup of 12 artists who Jimenez is introducing via a series of Instagram posts leading up to the grand opening. Some are part of his personal collection, and some were referred through gallery contacts, but all are from the Southeast. “All 12 are professional artists; they’re at the top of their game, recognized in corporate and private collections around the world, and they all have 20-30 years of experience.”
His plan is to present monthly themes and introduce new artists as he finds them. A trip to Miami in December for Art Basel is part business, part pleasure, but Jimenez is taking pleasure in the entirety of his reinvention and looks forward to sharing that with the talent he features and the guests he welcomes.
“I’m just very grateful that someone who has been in one business his whole life can step away from that and into something so meaningful and fulfilling and energizing,” he said. “If you can’t tell by the way I’m speaking about this, I’m really energized by all of it.”
