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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I will be participating tomorrow night in the first Pecha Kucha Night Tampa Bay at Romeo’s Gallery in Ybor City, and I’ll be talking about the future of public art in the Tampa Bay area.
Yes– in 6 minutes and 40 seconds, I will discuss the current state of public art locally, draw attention to innovative [...]

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Erik Jones at work. Image courtesy Pale Horse Design & Gallery.
Friday
6-11 p.m. – Opening reception for the 2008 FloCas Traveling Exhibition at the Bustillo y Diaz cigar factory (runs through Oct. 24). The exhibit features work by 30 graduate students from USF, FSU and UF juried by MOCA NoMi director Bonnie Clearwater.
7-9 p.m. - [...]

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The folks at Flight 19 have announced a closing reception date for Bob Wysocki’s Post-Metal: Sat., Nov. 8, 7-11 p.m. If you haven’t seen this installation yet, it’s one of the most exciting projects to take place in Tampa this fall (or year…perhaps even in recent memory). Check out the video above to see my [...]

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Chris Parks, The Fleet of Doom, digital illustration, 2008
Saturday night marks the return of The Exhibitionists (the TMA young members group formerly known as Avant Garde) to downtown Tampa. Their show, Brand New Day, staged in the ground floor of Skypoint, aims to be an art party with a curatorial premise that actually holds some [...]

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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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I’m thinking this is good news. The TMA names someone to lead their institution who has a track record of interest in contemporary art. Hopefully we are one step closer to never having to experience another exhibit of Yankees memorabilia again. (But I kid. Curator Elaine Gustafson has done a good job of bringing contemporary [...]

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Inside ArtHouse3. Courtesy Katherine Gibson.
For those who don’t know, South Tampa resident Katherine Gibson has periodically transformed her home into a temporary gallery space for the past few years. Add friends and neighbors, guest artists, hors d’oeuvres and … you get the picture.
From Kathy’s email about the latest installment of ArtHouse3:
Come see a [...]

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Allen Hampton, Counting Centuries, 2008, mixed media. Detail views. Courtesy the artist’s Flickr page.
And in Sketchbook for Creative Loafing, here’s a bit about a show over at [5]art that’s worth checking out. Gotta marvel at the work put into this exhibit by Allen Hampton - whose disturbing visions are always welcomed by this viewer [...]

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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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Jade Dellinger, curator of MashUp at USF CAM, sent me a link to this highly amusing video earlier today. My only disappointment: the reporter didn’t rock out (which everyone else who participates in the project does) before smashing the guitar. I was there on Friday night for the opening and additional guitar smashings - most [...]

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From the Arts Council:
The Arts Council of Hillsborough County is currently accepting applications through August 29, 2008 to fill four vacancies on its Board of Directors.  Terms are for four years and financial disclosure is required. Members must be qualified electors residing in Hillsborough  County, having general knowledge of the arts with specific and in-depth [...]

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