Flocas 2008 opens tonight in Tampa, and I’ll tell you—my reaction to this project (the consortium of Florida university masters degree programs) is like, why didn’t someone think of this sooner? Best. Idea. Ever.
We have some really talented graduate students in the state, and it breaks my heart when they leave after graduation. We need [...]

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Jamey Grimes. Merge IV, 2007. Mylar, acetate, transparency film, thread. Courtesy DFAC.
This week in Creative Loafing:
These days, it’s hardly an exaggeration to call the evening news the stuff of nightmares. Between the implosion of Wall Street and the prospect of the other guy winning the election, the current state of national affairs might be enough [...]

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Rebecca Sexton Larson, Contemporary Retablo, “Before we can see” (verse: Henry David Thoreau). Mixed media on pinhole photographs, 29.5” x 28.” Courtesy sextonlarson.com.
Artsqueeze “hearts” Rebecca Sexton Larson and her ability to transform nearly any box-like object into a pinhole camera. (Pay a visit to the Big Draw Studio in Ruskin this week to see [...]

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A wall-mounted sculpture made of vynil records by Susan Janvrin of Papergeist.
Sooo… This is just a little recap of some things I saw last night for your reading pleasure.
I stopped by Art After Dark, the third Friday party-exhibit at the Tampa Museum of Art, to check out Sound Effects, an exhibit of music-related art [...]

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An update on Tampa-based artist Lori Ballard’s work, mentioned in this blog post recently. Tomorrow, an exhibit of her series of photo banners opens in Salt Lake City. Via email from Lori:
Saans Photography Gallery is thrilled to announce our dedication to promoting fine art photography. We will be featuring not only local but international photographers.
The [...]

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C. Wade Brickhouse, Paper Vessels, 2008. Courtesy Florida Craftsmen.
Most of you probably know the artists’ studios housed above Florida Craftsmen in downtown St. Petersburg as Artspace. I’m told by staff at FC, which owns the building, that a slight reorganization has taken place. The studios will be known as ArtLofts going forward, and the artists– [...]

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Becky Flanders, “Untitled (from the Archetype series),” 2007, archival inkjet print. Courtesy of the artist.

Last week in Creative Loafing, I wrote about the work of Becky Flanders, a USF MFA student, whose work I just think is incredibly promising. One of the joys of encountering her photographs - and sculptural pieces as well as [...]

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Jeppe Hein
Smoking Bench, 2003
Fog machine, bench (stainless steel and leather), mirror
Courtesy Johann König, Berlin
For most folks, Sarasota’s John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is synonymous with Old Master style: ginormous Rubens tapestries, Italian canvases in dramatic chiaroscuro, twisting Baroque columns. In comparison, the Ringling’s current exhibit of modern art from the mid- to late-20th [...]

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Lori Ballard in her studio at the WTCA. Photo: MV
Since word has it that there will be no closing reception for A Sense of Space at the West Tampa Center for the Arts, I thought I’d bring you just a taste—or two—of some of the creative endeavors currently under way in the former cigar factory. [...]

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Alex Espalter-Torres in his studio at the West Tampa Center for the Arts. Photo: MV

Over Memorial Day weekend, the West Tampa Center for the Arts held an opening reception for the last exhibit of their inaugural season. (Click here to read the article I wrote in September about the organization’s transformation from Gallery 1906 into [...]

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On Friday night, I paid a visit to Pride & Passion 2008, the Tampa Museum of Art’s annual celebration of gay pride, to check out Equilibrium, a one-night exhibit featuring three Tampa-based GLBT artists: Jen Saavedra, Santiago Echeverry and Kurt Piazza. Wish y’all could see the exhibit, but it’s gone now. Instead, check out this [...]

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Bi-polar bunnies by Coralette Damme, a.k.a. the Crafty Hag, at Saturday Morning Art Market.
In addition to the largely food-based Saturday Morning Market (where you can buy assorted herbs, plants, soap, batiked garments, etc., as well as fruits, veggies, prepared foods, baked goods, and so on), downtown St. Petersburg now hosts the Saturday Morning Art [...]

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