If you’re like me, you can’t get enough of Bravo’s darned addictive design-related reality shows, like Project Runway, Top Design and Shear Genius (the one about hair stylists). Well, get this–the International Academy of Art and Design has created their own online reality series, Artistik Envy, which focuses on a competition between ten multimedia and graphic design students here in Tampa.

Viewers have the option of attending the judging panel live tonight at IADT or watching the video online afterwards. I’ll be watching and blogging about the show after each episode. Needless to say: brilliant marketing on the part of IADT. At some point, I hope to interview the instructor who hatched the idea.

Dare I ask: who’s ready for a similar project about Bay area “fine” artists?

Full press release after the jump explains the complete concept.

ARTiSTiK Envy: “The Search for the Creative Genius”

International Academy of Design & Technology hosts the “American Idol” of creative competitions.

Tampa, FL – October 6, 2008 –ARTiSTiK Envy, conceived by instructor Josef Mancino, provides students of International Academy of Design & Technology – Tampa (the Academy) the opportunity to take their studied trade and apply it abstractly through a creative, multi-media competition.  The contest spans three months (September through December) with a series of events.  The first challenge will take place on Friday, October 10 in room 407/470 located at the Academy, 5401 Eisenhower Blvd in Tampa. Preshow at 6 p.m./ Show begins at 7 p.m. / Post show to follow.  The public will then have four days to vote for their favorite contestant and two will be eliminated before the next challenge.

ARTiSTiK Envy, the search for the creative genius, will host a series of five bi-weekly challenges that will ask students to push the boundaries of creative concepts and execution.  Each challenge will be critiqued by ARTiSTiK’s panel of industry professionals and will then be broadcast on the ARTiSTiK Envy website (http://envy.artistikmagazine.com) where the public will have a chance to review various presentations by the contestants such as original music, fashion apparel, short films and more. Then they can vote for their favorite submissions online. The two contestants with the lowest amount of votes from each challenge will be eliminated.

On September 19, the panel of industry professionals that included Charles Armstrong, CEO of SPARK Labs; Kate Whatley, Art Director for PeakBiety branding + advertising, and Carl Vervisch, Copy Writer for SPARK – chose 10 Academy students and alumni to compete in ARTiSTiK Envy 2008. The contestants are Keith Burnson, Jovani Coleman, Corey Garlow, Walter Hamilton, Kristi Lamons, Carlos Mangual, Henry Spencer, Rick Timpe, Brian Wilson, and Jerrodoemie Winters.

“We want to combine the desire of Tampa’s potential with our local professionals’ as a creative hub,” said the Tampa Academy’s President Mark Page. “This series of challenges illustrates what we’re committed to doing every day here at the Academy – providing the training and experience to hit the ground running.”

-more-

ARTiSTiK Envy Calendar of Challenges:

Challenge One - Havana Days - Friday, October 10 at 6 p.m.

Contestants are asked to create a piece that explores Tampa’s rich Cuban history and culture.

Challenge Two - 70’s Revival - Friday, October 24 at 6 p.m.

The Top Eight contestants will be asked to create a piece that considers the modern-day echoes of 70’s styles and social trends.

Challenge Three - Goth Diva – Friday, November 7 at 6 p.m.

The Top Six contestants will be asked to create a piece that represents what happens when Goth meets Glamour.

Challenge Four - Urban Funk – Friday, November 21 at 6 p.m.

The Top Four contestants will be asked to create a piece that discovers what makes a city come to life.

Challenge Five - Surreal World – Friday, December 5 at 6 p.m.

The Top Two contestants will be asked to create a piece that makes a statement about the relationship between pop culture and the subconscious.

Final Results Show – Friday, December 19 at 6 p.m.

The big reveal of who will be named ARTiSTiK ENVY 2008 and featured in the January issue of ARTiSTiK Magazine.

Tribeca Color Salon is the official salon for the ARTiSTiK Envy competition.

Hair & makeup for the contestants provided by Tribeca Color Salon, 900 W.Kennedy Blvd, Tampa Fl.

About the International Academy of Design & Technology

The International Academy of Design & Technology, founded in the 1970s with a single location, is a vibrant and growing college committed to providing a design education that delivers today’s technology into the classroom, and tomorrow’s creative professionals into the workforce. Today, International Academy of Design & Technology has 10 locations and continues to grow. The International Academy of Design & Technology is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools to award associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees. The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools is listed as a nationally recognized accrediting agency by the United States Department of Education and is also recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.  For more information please see www.academy.edu

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 to somehow get them to stick around and be the people who open art galleries or start a contemporary art center.

So, anyway—I’m looking forward to tonight’s show. (Above is the postcard they’ve been sending around; they had me at the Mike Kelley/Paul McCarthy-looking mess two from the top. What the hell is that?? I’m dying to know.)

The Bustillo y Diaz cigar factory does not keep regular hours. If you want to see this show after tonight, don’t be shy—call and ask to be let in. There’s no expectation for you to buy something if you make an appointment to see the show. (I get asked this question about twice a week, with so many of Tampa’s galleries running by-appointment-only these days.)

Enjoy!

Full press release after the jump:

2008 FloCas Traveling Exhibition

The Florida Consortium of Art Schools (FLoCAS) is a collaboration between the dedicated graduate students and educators from major universities through out the state of Florida.   As a result of this collaboration, the 2008 FloCas Traveling Exhibition will open to the public at Tampa’s Bustillo y Diaz Cigar Factory on October 7th.  The exhibition runs through October 24th, and there will be an opening Reception on Friday, October 10th, 6 PM  - 11 PM.

The 2008 FloCas Traveling Exhibition was juried by North Miami Museum of Contemporary Art Director Bonnie Clearwater. There are a total of 30 graduate students from USF, FSU and UF exhibiting their artwork in the show.  Before arriving in Tampa the exhibition has been displayed in both Tallahassee’s 621 Gallery and WarpHaus in Gainesville.

Please visit http://www.flocas.org for more information about FLoCAS and upcoming events.

When:

Exhibition Runs:  October 7-24, 2008

Opening Reception: Friday October 10th, 6-11 PM

Where:

Bustillo y Diaz Cigar Factory

2111 N Albany Ave.

Tampa FL 33607

Gallery Hours:

M-F 9 AM - 5 PM by appointment only.

Please contact Cecile Raynaud.

813.598.4498

craynaud@aol.com

Yes– in 6 minutes and 40 seconds, I will discuss the current state of public art locally, draw attention to innovative projects outside and inside the area, and talk about where we might go from here. Nine other folks will be doing the same thing with design-related topics of their own choosing. Crazy!

So what is this whole Pecha Kucha thing, anyway?

Pecha Kucha Night Tampa Bay
Fri., Oct. 10, 7-10 p.m.

Emerging Tampa Bay Architects, with CreativeTampaBay, is hosting Tampa’s first installment of Pecha Kucha Night on Oct. 10, 7-10 p.m. The event takes place at Romeo’s Gallery (1515 7th Ave., Ybor City) during Archifest, a month-long celebration of architecture and design in Tampa Bay. This event will give local architects, artists, designers and creative personalities a chance to present their work and ideas—and to enter into a dialogue about design. Each participant will present 20 slides in 20 seconds, for a total of 6 minutes and 40 seconds. (Slides will advance automatically, encouraging the presenter to be concise and stay on topic.) The presentations provide for a lively evening full of exciting ideas, beautiful images and good discussion about design; the evening begins with a reception that includes beer, wine and light appetizers. For more information about Pecha Kucha Night, go to www.pecha-kucha.org. For more information about Archifest, go to www.aiatampabay.com.

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 to have you waking up in a cold sweat. Floridians in particular — at the mercy of an economy dependent on the battered industries of real estate and tourism — could use a good reverie to distract us from the horrors of reality.

Luckily, the Dunedin Fine Arts Center’s latest exhibits offer a palliative in the form of dreams. In three complementary exhibits, works by about a dozen artists explore the pleasures of fantasy, from aspirations of world peace to idealized reminiscences of childhood. (A fourth exhibit showcases dreamy artwork by Pinellas schoolchildren and a fifth invites kids to engage in hands-on activities related to the theme.) Even bad dreams come up for the artistic treatment, but fear not — the worst of them isn’t half as bad as what’s happened to your 401K this year. Read more>>

Post-script: Now that I’ve had another week to reflect on this show, I think my favorite pieces in it are Jamey Grimes‘ wall-mounted sculptures made from corrugated plastic. It’s a simple thing, but I keep returning to the tension between their lovely, ethereal shapes and the toughness of the industrial material. Yum.

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. - Opening reception for Hiroki Haraguchi: Poached Wonderland and Transmutative Nano-Resonant Technology at USF Centre Gallery.

7-11 p.m. – Opening reception for White Box Group Show 2 at [5]art, inside the West Tampa Center for the Arts. The exhibit features ten artists from around the country including Tampa Bay residents Ryann Slauson and Chalet Comellas.

Saturday

10 a.m.-5 p.m. - Ruskin Big Draw-In

12-7 p.m. – Oktoberbest Brew-ha-ha II at St. Pete Clay Company. Free admission; buy a handmade ceramic stein or cup and receive tickets good for food, beverages, and kids activities. No outside coolers.

5-9 p.m. – Awesome Art Party at Tampa Artist Emporium featuring One Night in Istanbul, photographs by Richard Stewart, Turkish appetizers by Gengiz Khan restaurant and $5 Polaroid portraits by Chad Cardoza and Tatum “Disco Bean” Llewellyn. Because the Emporium has to close its doors on October 12th, original artwork will be discounted.

8-11 p.m. – Opening reception for New Collected Works of Erik Jones (runs through Oct. 16) at Pale Horse Design & Gallery. The exhibit includes original paintings, most of which depict the female figure, and clothing by Erik Jones, a graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design.

OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

[5]art and three04 encourage you to submit artwork for this fundraiser for the Historic Santaella Cigar Factory, an artist-friendly venue in Tampa, FL.

This salon-style exhibition, hosted in Gallery 209, is devoted to the promotion and improvement of this alternative art venue and the celebration of Tampa’s art community. This call for submissions is open to all artists working in any 2D media.

This one night event will be held on Friday, November 7, 2008, from 6pm till 10PM in Gallery 209. There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door (Remember it’s a fundraiser!) for a night of art and camaraderie in the art community. Proceeds will go to the Ellis -VanPelt family for improvements planned for their Old Santaella Cigar Factory at 1906 North Armenia Avenue.

:: ENTRY INFORMATION ::

ELIGIBILITY: This call for submissions is open to all artists, national and international, working in all 2D media. All forms of painting, drawing, photography, and digital or graphic art are eligible for review. All works must be priced between $10-$1000. All accepted works must be delivered framed and ready to hang. All accepted works MUST be received by Monday November 3rd.

SUBMISSION FORMAT & ENTRY FEE: All submissions should be made digitally, via email. There is a $10 nonrefundable entry fee for five digital image files; $2 for each additional file. Submit as many works as you wish. Send your submission form, in the body of an email, to art.five@gmail.com along with your image files. Send your submission fee via pay pal to the same [5]art email address. Be sure to include your name and ‘digital submission’ in the subject line of your email and your pay pal transaction.

DEADLINE: All entries must be received via e-mail by Friday, October 24 at 3pm, Eastern Standard Time. Early submissions are encouraged!

NOTIFICATION: Artists will be notified of acceptance or non-acceptance by Sunday, October the 26. Notification will be made via e-mail. Drop off details and artist contracts will be send to accepted artists via email.

COMMISSION: There will be a 15% commission on any sales made during the exhibition. (Again, fundraiser!)

Gallery 209 is located on the 2 floor of 1906 N. Armenia Ave. Tampa, FL 33607
Questions? Contact three04 at three04@mac.com or [5]art at art.five@gmail.com.

Gallery 209 | Exhibition Form
Complete and include in the body of your submission email.

Artist Name _____________________________________________________________

Telephone Number________________________________________________________
Address__________________________________________________________________
Email Address____________________________________________________________
Web Address (optional)_____________________________________________________

1. file name ______________________________________________________________
title______________________________________________________________________
media____________________________________________________________________
unframed dimensions_______________and framed dimensions_________________
year________________________________price_________________________________

2. file name ______________________________________________________________
title______________________________________________________________________
media____________________________________________________________________
unframed deminsions_______________and framed deminsions_________________
year________________________________price_________________________________

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 the life-sized camera obscura she built recently with Bruce Marsh and Dolores Coe.)

Tonight, Becky will discuss her work, the history of the camera obscura and the basics of making a pinhole camera at The Arts Center in St. Petersburg. (Click here to download the flier.) The free talk– suggested donation, $5– precedes a hands-on workshop she will lead on Oct. 18-19 at The Arts Center.

I count Becky among the area’s most innovative artists when it comes to promoting her work. This year she created a blog, boxphotos, where she updates readers/collectors about her latest projects and regularly offers a featured piece for sale.

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 interview with Wysocki during his visit to Tampa for the exhibit’s opening in late August.

(If you prefer to watch a bigger-screen version of this video on Vimeo, click here.)

Donna Box of Valrico taking part in a class at the Big Draw Studio.

Did you know that Ruskin, Fla., was founded by people inspired by the social theories of art critic and Victorian intellectual John Ruskin? And here I’ve been thinking “tomato” every time I hear Ruskin for the last twenty years…

In honor of that heritage, during this centennial year, the Big Draw offers a variety of workshops and classes designed to help participants rediscover the joy of drawing (an activity John Ruskin believed was key to a healthy ability to perceive and analyze the world). If you can’t see yourself putting charcoal to paper, a block-party-slash-mural-unveiling with food and music on Oct. 11 might hold the most appeal. Either way, stop by and see how the event organizers have transformed an empty Dollar General store into a temporary community arts center.

Will today’s Ruskin residents develop enough of a taste for art classes on tap that they’ll support the creation of a permanent arts center?

Read the story in Creative Loafing: The Big Draw.

Here are a few Big Draw events taking place this week/end (note: not all take place in Ruskin); click here for the complete list on the Big Draw website:

LIFE DRAWING
Eckerd College, 4200 54th Ave., S, St. Petersburg,
Ransom Art Building, 2nd floor, Art Dept. 727/867-1166
7-9:30 p.m., Thursdays (Week Three: OCT 2)
$5, open to anyone, no obligation/pre-registration
Long pose 1st Thursday of the month
For more information call Rebecca Skelton 727/449-5146

DRAWING MARATHON EXTRAVAGANZA– 2 Day Intensive
BIG DRAW STUDIO – Workshop
Oct 3 & 4
Friday & Saturday, 10 am – 5pm each day
Visiting Artist: Marjorie Greene
SouthShore Arts Council
Materials & Model Fee - $60
Sign-Up begins August 25, Limit 20
Bmarsh3@tampabay.rr.com or 813.641.8635
Registration will be complete when payment is made.
Commit yourself to a 2 day drawing marathon extravaganza. This intense all day activity is open to all students interested in increasing their understanding and perception of the visual world. Participants will work in a large studio with a massive set-up and live clothed models. Projects will be executed in charcoal on large 4′x5′ paper. This 2 day immersion in drawing will culminate in an informal critique and exhibit. Accommodations information is available.

HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURE WALK & DRAW
OCT 4 , 9am – noon; All Ages
Begins at Ruskin Commongood Park
121 2nd ST NW
First 25 receive free sketchbook
Ruskin Historical Society

Participants will receive a walking tour map of nearby historic buildings. The event is free and open to people of all ages. The first 25 to start will receive sketch pads and drawing implements. Sketches can be kept by the artists or donated to the Ruskin Historical Society before noon that day or mailed to Ruskin Historical Society, PO Box 879, Ruskin Florida 33575. A selection of finished drawings will be posted online at www.RuskinHistory.org For more information contact Fred Jacobsen, Fred@RuskinHistory.org or 813-298-6028.

BRUSH & INK DRAWING IN THE LANDSCAPE
Camp Bayou Nature Reserve - Workshop
OCT 4, Saturday 1-4pm
Visiting Artist: Robin Cody
SouthShore Arts Council
Free, Materials Provided
Sign-up begins Sept 2, Ruskin Branch Library
One Dickman Dr SE, or 813.273.3652

Using brush and ink on chipboard, we will explore a variety of ways in which to record the sensations of light, movement, space and sound in the landscape that surrounds us. Make a large, gestural drawing, or two smaller drawings to express your particular vision. No experience necessary!

THE BIG PICTURE PARTY – FAMILY EVENT
Make a Picture Book & Follow the Treasure Trail
Family; Adult & Child; Oct. 4th, 1:00 – 2:30
Southshore Regional Library Children’s Room
Southshore & Ruskin Libraries with Crawford Studio
As a family, learn to celebrate picture books and learn through drawing. Families are invited to come and discover SouthShore Regional Library’s colorful and large Children’s Library room. See and learn how important illustrations are to children’s literature. With guided instruction your family can illustrate a story ~ make your own picture book. Follow a “treasure trail” around the library. Pick your favorite illustrations from the many available books.

USF grad student Ariel Baron-Robbins teaches a class at the Big Draw Studio in Ruskin last week.

Have you heard about the Big Draw?

Out in Ruskin, a group of artists is working to stage a month-long celebration of drawing (that most intimidating of artistic exercises) that will culminate with a party and mural unveiling on Oct. 11.

Tomorrow, my visual art column in Creative Loafing will focus on the series of events—I’ll link to it here once the article becomes available online.

In the meantime, if you’d like to participate in any of the Big Draw’s workshops, including a drawing “marathon” that takes place this weekend, click here to view the schedule. All events are free.