By Don Gialanella. A lifelong love of sport and fascination with the Olympics motivated me to enter the competition to design the Special Olympic cauldron. I hoped to contribute in some way to the success of the games and be a part of an event that’s so universal and beloved. For inspiration I looked to nature and the magic of color and movement. I wanted to come up with a design that would express the physical action, positive spirit and passion of the athletes. The subject in my mind was the metamorphosis of athletes into symbols of eternal grace…. Read More
By Cindy Stovall. “What we’re doing is creating a space that’s accessible for people with developmental or other disabilities to express themselves through an exploration of the arts,” Creative Clay CEO Kim Dohrman says. “And the art that our member artists create is valued and embraced by this wonderful St. Petersburg community. When someone attends Spring for the Arts, they actually get to see our mission in action.”… Read More
Last year, master sculptor Mark Aeling and St. Petersburg Poet Laureate Helen Pruitt Wallace collaborated on a powerful project in the Warehouse Arts District that remembers 9/11, and how to begin again. On this Memorial Day weekend, Mark and Helen share their thoughts, and all the work behind Rise…. Read More
By Margo Hammond. When I say Charles Rennie Mackintosh, what comes to mind? High-backed chairs? Yes, there are plenty of them included in Designing the New: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style, the special exhibit at the Museum of American Arts and Craft Movement in St. Pete. But those stark, giraffesque chairs are only a fraction of the unique creations by the Scottish designer… Read More
By Emily Stehle. Go to the Tampa Museum of Art – this weekend! – for the experience of seeing work by a group of talented and inspired artists from Western and Central Florida you’ve never heard of – or seen before. Your experience will be eye-opening, exhilarating, soul-searching. . . and perhaps, a little sad. The Florida Outsider Art Collection celebrates artists who create – to create. They don’t have traditional art training. But to them, “. . . making art was as essential as breathing”… Read More
By Tom Winchester. Women’s Work: A Survey of Female Photographers, emphasizes the early contributions of women in photography. The exhibition includes artworks created by many of photography’s most notable women, as well as several whom viewers will be meeting for the first time. The exhibition reveals that men weren’t the only pioneers of photography, and that women were creating photographic imagery that was meant to be understood as art from the earliest days…. Read More
By Laura Kepner. Harriet Monzon-Aguirre opens the front door to her Safety Harbor home. “Come in,” she says. Her smile is authentic. Her kitchen offers the welcoming aroma of freshly-brewed coffee. “It’s not a big space,” she says, handing me a full cup. She carries her two-year-old son Thomas as she walks toward a brightly-lit back room — the Florida room. “But the sunlight – it’s perfect for painting.”… Read More
Harriet Monzon-Aguirre is an oil painter creating out of Bahia Studios in Safety Harbor. She spent her early childhood and formative years on the Caribbean island of Barbados. Harriet earned… Read More
By Emily Stehle. This show at Florida CraftArt, a project of SAQA’s (Studio Art Quilt Associates Inc.) Florida region, offers a unique perspective of the creation of artwork. The assumption is that every work begins with a question. And every art quilt by the 29 artists in this exhibit examines and explains their answer to this question…. Read More
Mickett-Stackhouse Studio Dr. Carol Mickett is an artist, philosopher, and part of a collaborative art team with artist Robert Stackhouse. Mickett worked for over a decade in academia, holds her… Read More
