By Caron Schwartz
Explore the vaults The Museum of Fine Arts in St. Pete’s seventh interaction of Explore the Vaults features the artwork of New Guinea.
These artworks are products of generational knowledge relating to ancestry, mystical power, performances, and initiation rites. Every line, carving, and pigment are ritually significant extensions of the lived experiences and religious practices of the individual artists who created them and the community through 4/12/2025. www.mfastpete.org
Also from the vaults
The photographs of Ansel Adams, the American photographer whose powerful, iconic images redefined visual conceptions of the American West. His dramatic landscapes, haunting stands of trees, and exquisite details of the natural world reveal his utter mastery of focus. Through 3/16/2025. www.mfastpete.org
Can you believe Surrealism is 100? To celebrate, the Dalí Museum presents The Subversive Eye, featuring 100+ works by 50 artists highlighting the movement’s original aims through photography. Notable artists include Dora Maar, Lee Miller, and Man Ray. Through 5/4/2025. https://bit.ly/dali-eye
Curie-ous The Tampa Museum of Art presents Jennifer Steinkamp: Madame Curie, an installation based on Eve Curie’s biography of her Nobel Prize-winning mother. Inspired by Marie Curie’s passion for gardening, the room-sized installation features entangled and intertwined flora that appear to swirl and sway as the branches and flowers slowly move across the projection. On view through 8/10/2025. www.tampamuseum.org
$3 million doorstop An Invergordon, Scotland, a council member was puttering in the town council’s storage shed when she noticed “a wee white marble sculpture thing holding open the door.” The 18th-century marble bust, purchased for about $6 in 1930, had languished amid discarded council paraphernalia ever since. Sotheby’s estimates the sculpture could fetch more than $3 million. (I wonder if my flea-bitten marble eagle doorstop is worth anything?)
Artists invitation Hernando County’s 40th Annual Art in the Park, 3/8-9/2024, invites artists to exhibit at the only art show in Hernando County. The fun includes $6,500 in cash prizes, Saturday Night Artists’ Reception, and award winners featured on the Hernando County Fine Arts Council website and social media platforms. Learn more and apply online at https://bit.ly/brooksvilleartinthepark. Deadline 1/10/2025.
Got teaching? The Tampa Museum of Art contracts local teaching artists to deliver a variety of programs both at the museum and at partner sites in Hillsborough County. Learn more and apply https://bit.ly/tma-studio
Seasons greetings The Florida Aquarium’s YuleTides includes Santa, the “Coralers,” and more! Whether you’re looking for a perfect selfie spot, the chance to get crafty with holiday DIYs, or want to soak up the sights and sounds of the season, YuleTides has something for the whole family. Now through 1/5/2025. https://bit.ly/yuletides-flaquarium
Winning expressions The St. Petersburg College Alumni Network is thrilled to announce the winners and finalists of the 2024 St. Petersburg College Visionary Expressions Art Contest! SPC will host an art show in March featuring the contest winners, finalists, and select honorable mentions.
- FIRST PLACE – Gentijana Dakaj Saramati, Ornate Serenity.
- SECOND PLACE – Christina De Nyse, Burgeoning.
- THIRD PLACE – Samantha Hammond, Blown Away
Cry babies and more The Museum of Motherhood is calling scholars, artists, and community members for presentations and papers for its 20th Anniversary Conference. Subject: Fun, Sex, & Crying Out Loud. On campus at USF, onsite at MoM, and online 3/14-16/2025 followed by the MoM Art Auction on 3/18/2025. Information and application www.jourms.org/current-cfps Deadline for submissions 12/15.
Rainbow connection
John Mayer and movie director McG (aka Joseph McGinty Nichol) have agreed to buy the Jim Henson Company Lot, a legendary studio in Hollywood founded by Charlie Chaplin. Singer-songwriter Mayer occupies an office on the lot and has been working for months to buy it from the family of the Muppets creator. Plans for the property are unknown.
The AIs have it In a historic first, Sotheby’s sold a painting by an AI robot for over $1 million. The portrait, titled A.I. God, of computer science luminary and World War II decoder Alan Turing, was painted by humanoid Ai-Da Robot. Turing is considered the father of artificial intelligence, and Ai-Da was named after the first computer programmer, Ada Lovelace.
It’s beginning to look a lot like The Nutcracker The 2024 tour unveils reimagined scenes crafted by acclaimed choreographer Viktor Davydiuk blending classical ballet with jaw-dropping acrobatics, larger-than-life puppets, and stunning hand-crafted sets and costumes. Share the tradition of holiday magic and Tchaikovsky’s timeless score with friends and family of all ages. At the Mahaffey 12/28-29. https://bit.ly/mahaffey-nutcracker
Enjoy armchair travel with Shen Yun. Their collection of short dances, accompanied by the Shen Yun Orchestra, tells legends of the culture’s creation and stories of compassion and courage in China today. Go from snowy mountaintops to vast, boundless grasslands and from celestial palaces in the highest heavens down to the dusty plateaus of the Middle Kingdom. Mahaffey Theater 1/16-19/2025. https://bit.ly/mahaffey-shenyun
OUT Arts & Culture is proud to announce Mindy Schumacher is our 2024 BranchOUT Scholarship Recipient. Mindy is studying Accounting at St. Pete College. A lifelong learner, Mindy decided to continue her education and career development. BranchOUT supports continuing education for LGBTQ+ students in Pinellas County. https://bit.ly/branchout-scholarships
MoreOUT The Eighth Annual ReadOUT Literary Festival celebrates LGBTQ+ literature 2/14-16/2025. This year’s theme, Queering the Narrative, explores LGBTQ+ representation in literature through panels, community dialogue, and keynote speakers. https://bit.ly/read-out-2024
Creative gifting Creative Pinellas’s Arts Annual returns for its seventh year celebrating the talented artists of Pinellas County during the Arts Annual 2024 Exhibition and Pop-Up Gift Shop. This year’s exhibition presents works across all mediums from visual to literature.
The Gallery, in Pinewood Cultural Park in Largo, will be open extended hours Wed.-Sun., 10am–8pm, through 1/4/2025. https://bit.ly/3YalQny
Light ‘em up While at Pinewood be sure to take in Holiday Lights in the Garden, the Florida Botanical Gardens’s display of a million twinkling colorful LED holiday lights. Vibrant laser lights and lighted figures round out the display. www.flbgfoundation.org/holidaylights
Ply plein air DRV Gallery presents Plein Air Painting in the Wilderness of Canada with award-winning artist Joyce Burkholder. Joyce paints outdoors in all seasons, in both Gulfport and Ontario. Learn about painting on location no matter where you are including helpful equipment and what to expect DRV Gallery in Gulfport, 12/14, 1-2:30pm. https://bit.ly/drvpleinair