8 responses so far ↓

• 1 ec // Aug 29, 2008 at 10:43 pm

  This is very sad. I was not a frequent visitor…the location was formidable. They just had a wonderful show of Lillian Garcia-Roig and Mark Messerschmit, which I hated to miss, but between summer hours (no Saturdays! What happens when someone is working full-time work hours?!) and the long drive, it seemed almost impossible….
  Yet this is just very sad news.

• 2 Sheree Rensel // Aug 31, 2008 at 8:03 am

  I have been a Gulf Coast visitor for years. I worked there when they were at the Belleair location back in the 90’s. When they moved, I realized the facility was wonderful, but it was so isolated. Maybe if they chose a more cosmopolitan location it would help. HOWEVER, you mentioned the comments on the article. I read them. The comments tell the story of how a portion of our community does not embrace (or understand?) art. I am not sure how to fix that. It is kind of scary. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

• 3 Diana Lucas Leavengood // Aug 31, 2008 at 1:53 pm

  I was so bummed by this news. I was not surprised. Anytime I went there with my family we had the place to ourselves. I don’t think the location was as awful as everyone thought. I think the comments in the SPTimes tell what really happened here. This is a huge loss.

• 4 Megan Voeller // Aug 31, 2008 at 3:46 pm

  When I first started writing about art for Creative Loafing in 2006, up-and-coming curator Kurt Piazza - whose official title at the museum was registrar, I believe - had somehow convinced the GCMA to exhibit contemporary art. (Click here for a trip down memory lane.) When that commitment ended, apparently due to negative comments from museum members, I was disappointed. But it is a huge loss…and very sad…and scary.

  Think of the kids in Largo who aren’t going to get a field trip to this museum. (Sorry if that sounds maudlin, but I’ve taught a number of college-level students who have been to an art museum once or *never* before in their lives, and it always shocks me.) One of the under-celebrated and culturally priceless benefits of art museums is that they provide a place for visitors to consider the viewpoints of others. Now, you’re free to decide that you don’t particularly care for those viewpoints - e.g., as expressed as an abstract metal sculpture - but you come, you see and you consider. Best case scenario, maybe you hear something from a docent or an artist’s talk that makes you think that an artwork that seemed bizarre or ugly is actually kinda interesting. (Maybe a week later, you’re still thinking about that sculpture, and you decide you like it after all - or vice versa, right?) Art museums are a forum for careful consideration, and it seems we’re perilously short on those in these days of sound-bite opinions, online snark and the 24-hour news cycle. (Gotta stop watching CNN…)

  Not to assign too much importance to the SPT commenters, but they’re definitely not into consideration. If, in that way, they are representative of TB residents…yikes.

• 5 pf // Sep 5, 2008 at 9:41 pm

  Whether it was photography, student art, contemporary art, Florida art, local art or whatever was exhibited at the Gulf Coast Museum of Art since 2006, the leadership and staff, from the director to admissions, did whatever they could for the artists and for the local community and the community at large, to benefit from what it offered. I wish them all success in the new location.

• 6 Kurt // Sep 6, 2008 at 12:37 pm

  Megan, I am just now reading your comment regarding last week’s announcement of the closing of the GCMA. Thank you for mentioning me and thank you for all of the positive support you offered in your glowing reviews of the exhibitions I curated whilst in my position at the museum. At the time, it was clear that both the press, the public and the museum members were very pleased and excited with the changes that were beginning to take place. The board was always very responsive to my ideas and suggestions. With their support and enthusiasm, the exhibitions I curated consistently received positive reviews and were always well attended. This only reinforced my belief that the location was not a hinderance. I utilized a gorgeous facility and presented quality contemporary art, something I knew in my heart the public wanted to see. I raised the expectations of the audience and exploited the pristine white-box galleries, which so beautifully showcased the work of artists like Carolina Sardi, Bianca Pratorius and most stunningly, the Will Boys Be Boys? exhibition. Things did indeed take a turn for the worst when Ms. Turman replaced Ken Rollins as Director. When I read the repulsive news last week that the museum was to close, I was at once saddened and angered. Like you, I began to doubt the future of the arts in our area and the negative effect the closing of a museum of this calibre has on a community. Furthermore, it angered me that this person destroyed, in a very short time, what Ken and his dedicated staff had worked so long and hard to build. Having the good fortune to work with Mr. Rollins, I quickly realized that a keen awareness of regional, national and international contemporary art was one of the most important qualifications for the position of Director. Working with Ms. Turman, I experienced firsthand her deficient knowledge of contemporary art and her genuine lack of enthusiasm for any piece of art made before the seventeenth century, as she did receive her Master’s in Art History, majoring in the Renaissance. It was clear that Ms. Turman was not the right fit for the position. Although their intentions may have been genuine, I feel that the board that was in place at the time is mostly to blame for this. They never advertised the Director’s position outside the state of Florida and this resulted in a lackluster response for the position. I believe that if they would have conducted a national search for a new Director, a highly qualified individual with experience running a contemporary art venue, perhaps we would not be seeing this wonderful museum now closing its doors. It is a shame and a terrible loss but it is something that I knew was inevitable.

• 7 pf // Sep 7, 2008 at 7:14 am

  It seems that Curt Piazza got wonderful opportinities from both directors, Mr. Rollins and Mrs. Turman. I’ve seen his fine work and exhibitions while at the museum and thereafter. I wish for him continued success too.

• 8 pf // Sep 7, 2008 at 7:18 am

  I’m so sorry Mr. Piazza, I misspelled your first name. Believe me it was not intentional. Again, the best to you.

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