By Caron Schwartz
Featured Image: PHOTO Rico Gatson, Audre #2, 2021. Courtesy of the artist and Miles McEnery Gallery
Shall we dance?
WADA (Warehouse Arts District Association) presents a miniseries of classes based on film choreography. Enjoy three two-hour workshops that include brief screenings of popular movies from Singin’ in the Rain to La La Land, followed by dance lessons to learn the choreography.
When: 5-7pm, first Saturdays in Feb., March, and April
Where: Arts Education Center, 515 22nd St. S, St. Pete
How much: $60 per workshop / $150 for the series; WADA members: $50 / $120
Info and registration: https://bit.ly/3BMkEwr
Creative Pinellas 2023 Professional Artist Grant, designed to support our creative community and to highlight our county as an arts and cultural destination, is open for applications through Feb. 13. Grants of $5,000 each are open to artists in the disciplines of Dance, Choreography, Interdisciplinary, Literature, Media Arts, Musical Performance, Music Composition, Acting, Theater Creation, and Visual Arts. A $5,000 Artist Laureate grant may also be presented. Learn more and apply: https://bit.ly/3G05x3R.
Ready for your close-up?
Head over to Sunset Blvd. this year: ICONIC Portrait Edition where you will witness nine artists create portraits of three local icons in real-time. Then vote for your favorite. Your ICONIC experience includes eats and drinks courtesy of some of St. Pete’s most ICONIC vendors, a red-carpet glamour shot, silent auction and more.
When: Saturday, Feb. 25, 7-10pm
Where: Morean Center, 719 Central Ave., St. Pete
Cost: $175, $150 for members
Tickets and information: https://bit.ly/3Wp9tkU
Get creative in Dunedin
The Dunedin Fine Art Center wants to help you release your creative juices through one of its hundreds of classes. While DFAC offers top-notch instruction in traditional arts, such as drawing, painting, and pottery, you’ll also find exciting offerings in digital arts, arts & wellness, woodturning, metalworking and more, including food art. Find information and registration at www.dfac.org. The Dunedin Fine Art Center is located at 1143 Michigan Blvd., Dunedin.
PAVA bares all
PAVA (Professional Association of Visual Artists) kicks off 2023 with an unprecedented exhibit, “Clothing Optional,” featuring artwork that celebrates the art of figure drawing and the beauty of the human form, both clothed and unclothed. On display Jan. 19 through Feb. 25, Thursdays-Saturdays from 11am-3pm, the exhibit’s opening reception is Friday, Jan. 27, from 6-8pm at The Cool Art Shop, 1240 County Road 1, Dunedin. For more information https://bit.ly/3VdJcFp
Purposeful art
DRV Gallery presents “Art for a Cause,” a themed exhibition showcasing artwork highlighting a cause of each artist’s choosing. Ten percent of sales will be donated to those causes. The juried exhibition was judged by Florida CraftArt Executive Director Katie Deits. Awards will be presented at the opening reception on Jan. 19 at 5401 Gulfport Blvd S, Gulfport. Learn more at www.drvgallery.com, www.facebook.com/drvgallery, or @drvgallery22 on Instagram.
Brenda McMahon Gallery is celebrating the new year with the realist works of Belleair Bluffs painter James Rivoli, the gallery’s featured Artist of the Month in January. The exhibit opens on New Year’s Day, with an opening reception Jan. 6, from 5-9pm during Gulfport’s First Friday Art Walk. Brenda McMahon Gallery is located at 2901 Beach Blvd. S in downtown Gulfport. More information at www.brendamcmahongallery.com.
MFA honored
The Museum of Fine Arts in St. Pete is one of three recipients of the 2023 Expo Chicago Northern Trust Purchase Prize. The award provides funding to museums to select works from the fair’s Exposure section, which features galleries founded within the past 10 years. Along with the Seattle Art Museum and St. Louis Art Museum, the MFA will have extra spending power to acquire new pieces for its permanent collections.
I am aMUSEd
You are invited to the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance’s ninth annual MUSE Awards on March 3 from 7-10pm at the Morean Center for Clay, 420 22nd St. S, St. Petersburg. MUSE celebrates the diversity of all the arts and culture in our fair city and pays tribute to our remarkable hometown talent. MUSE categories range from Ambassador of the Arts and Patron of the Arts to Literary Arts and Arts & Technology. Learn more and purchase tickets at https://bit.ly/3HTdsT6.
City of museums
The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance (SPAA) partnered with area museums to provide an overview of the St. Pete Museum Experience. Nine museums – from Glass to Native American, Fine Art to Children’s – offer options for every interest and taste.
Funding came from the Comprehensive Arts Strategy with support from the city of St. Petersburg, the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, and the St. Petersburg Downtown Alliance. Watch all the videos here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3lNBPyj_j_AQvHgiyiCKv9smNee-9lkZ.
Art and meditation at The Dalí
Our monthly meditation practice begins with looking at examples of art to achieve stillness of the mind. Each session will examine art from a current exhibition to make us think, refocus, slow down, and go deeper into our minds to permit relaxation and awareness.
When: Second Wednesday of the month at noonbeginning Jan. 11
Where: The Dalí Museum’s Will Raymund Theater, One Dalí Blvd. St. Pete
Cost: Free (gallery access not included)
Register: https://bitly/3BS0qRS
The dream lives on
The USF Contemporary Art Museum presents Poor People’s Art: A (Short) Visual History of Poverty in the United States. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is well known for his “I Have a Dream” speech, yet much less emphasis is placed on his campaign to seek justice for America’s poor, “The Poor People’s Campaign.” This exhibition represents a visual response to Dr. King’s “last great dream.” On view Jan. 13-March 4, USF Contemporary Art Museum, 4202 E. Fowler Ave. CAM101, Tampa. For more information see https://bit.ly/3G7y9t7 (Featured Image at top of article: PHOTO Rico Gatson, Audre #2, 2021. Courtesy of the artist and Miles McEnery Gallery)
Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe presents Pearl Cleage’s “Flyin’ West.” Set in the 1890s, the play shows how the lives of a small group of Black women change after they leave the oppressive South and settle in the all-black town of Nicodemus, Kansas.
When: Jan. 4-Feb. 12, “Talkback” with the cast after the matinee on Jan. 22.
Where: WBTT’s Donelly Theatre, 1012 N. Orange Ave., Sarasota
Cost: $50/adults, $20/students and active military
Information: 941-366-1505 or www.westcoastblacktheatre.org.
Don’t let the muggles get you down
The Harry Potter Film Concert Series returns to the Straz Center with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in concert. On Friday, March 3 at 7:30pm, Ron Spigelman will conduct The Florida Orchestra performing live while the film is shown. In addition, a second performance has been added on Saturday, March 4, at 2pm. Tickets are available at www.strazcenter.org or 813-229-STAR(7827).
And finally, possibly the oldest pair of Levi’s just auctioned in Reno
Vintage bank notes, gold nuggets, and jewelry were among treasures from the S.S. Central America 1857 shipwreck that went to auction last December. Final prices ranged from $48 for a collection of books (estimated $80–$100) to $1,080,000 for gold from the vessel’s treasure box (estimated $1,800,000–$2,500,00). However, a salvaged pair of miner’s pants stole the show, pulling a deep-pocketed $114,000 – more than double their $50,000 estimate.
