By Caron Schwartz
Be a Morean Hero
Despite the crimp COVID-19 put in everyone’s style last year, the Morean Arts Center was able to serve more than 1,400 individuals through 12 different outreach programs, and its classes provided opportunities for engagement for more than 3,000 artists of all ages and levels.
Of course, Community Heroes make this possible, so the Morean is asking for help again.
• $100 provides one educational outreach program to area schools
• $200 provides one summer camp scholarship or discounted admission for up to 12 individuals to the Chihuly Collection through the Museums for All Program
• $250 provides one week of free family programming through Saturdays and Sundays@the Morean
• $500 provides art supplies for one week of summer camp
Learn more and donate at www.moreanartscenter.org/support-us.
Celebrate Los Vinos de Dalí 2021 virtually
Instead of what many have come to expect from the Dalí Museum’s annual signature wine and food tasting, Los Vinos de Dalí, held at the Museum every April since 2011, we invite you to join us and raise a glass (or two) for an assortment of online and (distanced) face-to-face vinos-inspired events throughout April, including:
• April 7 at 6pm: Potent Potables: An Evening of Art and Beer Tasting inspired by our Van Gogh Alive exhibit
• April 12 at 6pm: Wine with a Curator: “Dalí and the Dark Grape,” a virtual lecture
• April 16 at 5pm: A Taste & Talk with Motorworks Brewing on Facebook Live
• April 20 at 6pm: A Night at Sea Salt on the restaurant’s Peruvian Patio
Learn more at www.thedali.org/los-vinos-de-dali-2021-salud-a-st-pete/. And join the conversation on Facebook @thedalimuseum, Instagram @thedali, and Twitter @thedali.
And if you haven’t seen Van Gogh Alive yet, don’t dilly-dally. Tickets are currently sold out through May 2, but general admission tickets are available through June 13. For more information about the exhibit and to purchase tickets click to www.thedali.org/exhibit/van-gogh-alive/.
Welcome Terry Marks!
The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance board of directors has hired Terry Marks as the new CEO, following the retirement of founder and former executive director, John Collins. A New York City native, Marks has a deep appreciation for visual and performing arts. Her career has included stints as an educator, Wall Street executive, publisher, and arts industry consultant.
SUMMER CAMPS FOR CREATIVE KIDS
American Stage
Enrollment for American Stage’s in-person summer camp for students entering grades K-12 is now open. The camp, which runs June 21 – August. 6, includes 20 one- and two-week sessions held at Admiral Farragut Academy. All experience levels are welcome. The program will employ high safety standards to protect students and teaching artists, including the requiring of masks, social distancing protocols, and sanitization procedures.
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9am-3pm. Pre-care and after-care available.
Cost: One-week-long sessions: $225. Two-week-long sessions are $450. Lunch is available for $30 per week.
Financial aid: Applications are available until April 23.
Discounts: A 10% discount is available for military family members and teachers by calling 727-823-1600 x212 to apply this discount. A $25 off er session discount is available for an additional sibling enrolled in the same session dates.
Prospective students and their parents are encouraged to visit www.americanstage.org/summer to learn more and enroll.
Museum of Fine Arts
Unleash your inner artist at the Museum of Fine Arts! This July, the MFA is hosting three summer camps: two week-long art and science camps for grades 1-5 and one week-long art and empowerment workshop for female students in grades 6-9. Join us as we explore the world through art! Each camp and workshop is $190 for members, $250 for not-yet-members, and scholarships are available through Creative Pinellas (www.creativepinellas.org/gotosummercamp). Register now since space is limited. To learn more and register see: www.mfastpete.org/programs/youth-programs.
Camps include:
July 12-16: Art & Archaeology for grades 1-5
July 19-23: Art & Nature for grades 1-5
July 26-30: Wild Creations: Art & Empowerment Workshop for grades 6-9 who identify as female
Creative Clay
Registration is open for Creative Clay’s inclusive summer camp for children 6-12. Art Around the World will teach students about the art, culture, and customs of Scotland, Zimbabwe, Laos, and New Zealand. Children will study different cultures through a variety of media. All campers will have one painting per week exhibited at the St. Petersburg Museum of History at the St. Pete Pier. COVID-19 protocols, as stated on Creative Clay’s website, will be followed including mask-wearing indoors, frequent surface sanitizing and hand washing, and ample availability of hand sanitizer. Class size is limited to 12 students (six per studio) with a professional teaching artist and two teaching assistants.
Dates: June 21-July 30,
Monday-Friday, 9am-3pm
Cost: $200 per week, lunch included
Scholarships: Contact Creative Pinellas www.creativepinellas.org/gotosummercamp.
More info: www.creativeclay.org/summer-camp.
Duncan McClellan Gallery has a new artist to shout about. Robin Grebe received her BFA in Ceramics from the Massachusetts College of Art and her MFA in Ceramics/Glass from the Tyler School of Art. She has been an instructor at Rhode Island School of Design and the Pilchuck School. Grebe uses cast glass, ceramic glazes, and transparent enamels to create her monolithic and allegorical human forms. Originally inspired by Greek Cycladic fertility goddesses, Grebe’s sculptures seem both fragile and strong. To her, they illustrate the paradoxes of human life.
Robin Grebe. $23,000. Cast & Slumped Glass, Mixed Material, Stone Base, 34h x 17w x 7d in
Save the date
Gulfport ceramicist Brenda McMahon celebrates the second anniversary of her namesake gallery on May 1. The year of COVID-19 hasn’t kept McMahon, head of the Gulfport Merchants Chamber’s art committee, down. While the world held its breath (or at least kept it behind a mask) McMahon launched Wednesday Taste of Art workshops at the gallery and helped overhaul Gulfport’s First Friday ArtWalk from a craft market into a juried show and sale of professional fine art. To celebrate the anniversary McMahon invites one and all to the May 7 First Friday Art Walk, where she promises “music, a guest artist, and an all-out, make some noise kind of party.”
GCAA needs you!
Gulf Coast Artists’ Alliance is actively fundraising to help relocate its gallery, St. Pete ArtWorks, and studios, GCAA Creative Zone, into one location at 2604 Central Ave. in downtown St. Pete. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, its mission is to provide the local art community with opportunities to network, share resources, conduct workshops and classes, and hold exhibitions. With these funds, it will be able to build a new, larger gallery to benefit member artists as well as provide working artist studios. GCAA is also creating a classroom/meeting/member exhibition space and a “Comfort Room” for networking and relaxing. To find out more about how it plans to make a difference in our local creative community, please click on the fundraising link: www.igg.me/at/gcaa. And mark your calendar for the Grand Opening Celebration on May 8!
Just in time for Women’s History month
Finally acknowledging women’s considerable contributions to art history, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is exhibiting works by female Dutch masters in the Gallery of Honor alongside its prized Dutch masterpieces. That visibility has long been denied female artists, who were all-too-often dismissed as amateurs, their accomplishments forgotten after their deaths, and their works frequently misattributed to their husbands, fathers, or male teachers.
The trio of paintings includes those by Judith Leyster (c. 1600–1660), Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750), and Gesina ter Borch (1633–1690), all of whom were well known in their time. Judith Leyster was the first female master painter in the 17th century, and Rachel Ruysch’s work was sought after by all the courts of Europe. For more information see www.rijksmuseum.nl/en.
Memorieportret van Moses ter Borch, Gerard ter Borch (II). Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy…
The 25th annual Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival runs April 11-25. Unlike last year’s all-virtual event, this TBJFF will feature both virtual and drive-in-style big-screen movies. The 27 films, all of which have a Jewish element, touch on universal themes including love, tradition, the arts, family, and much more. For a schedule, tickets, and more information see www.tbjff.org.
The Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative, a nonprofit that promotes using the arts to nurture inclusion and diversity, presents “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the Literary, Film and Media Arts,” as part of its free four-part Arts & Racial Justice Panel series, Monday, April 19, 5-6:30pm, via Zoom.
Moderator Charlayne Hunter-Gault will discuss with the panelists their journey toward a more perfect union with its challenges and rewards. Panel members include Dorian Emerson Munroe, a filmmaker and director; W. Paul Coates, a publisher, author, and former member of the Black Panther Party; Calvin Alexander Ramsey Sr., a playwright, author, and photographer; and novelist Sarah Ladipo Manyika. The event is free, but registration is required at www.suncoastblackartscollaborative.org by April 16.
The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs is accepting applications for the fifth annual Individual Artist Grant Program. These 15 grants provide financial assistance to St. Petersburg resident artists for specific projects. The program supports public engagement (if COVID guidelines allow) of individual work/projects in the visual arts, craft arts, dance, music, theater, or literature. The applicant’s resume must show commitment to the art form through education, training, or professional experience, and must show evidence of exhibition, public performance, or being published during the past two years. The grant period is May 1 through September 18. Applicants may request funding up to $1,000. Application and guidelines are online at www.stpeteartsalliance.org/spaa-individual-artist-grant-program-guidelines
Sounds delicious!
Epicurean Delights is a juried exhibition of handmade objects showcasing the best of contemporary crafts to delight the foodie in all. Thirty artists from around the state created 73 pieces from intricate jewelry to glass sculptures depicting oranges, peaches, and other fruit. Equally exciting is the virtual programming planned for the show, from chocolate tastings with William Dean Chocolates’ founder to dining with Dali to famed food writer Janet Keeler.
The show runs through May 8, when the People’s Choice Award will be presented at the closing reception. People can vote for their favorite work of art in the Florida CraftArt Exhibition Gallery at 501 Central Ave. in St. Petersburg or on Facebook @FloridaCraftArt.org.
Gallery hours are Monday-Saturday, 10am-5:30pm, and Sunday, noon-5pm. For more information, visit www.floridacraftart.org or call (727) 821-7391.
Pepe’s Pasta Palace” is a 30.5″x12.5″x10″ papier-mâché marionette by Joyce Curvin.