It’s the most generous time of the year. The holiday are here and LOCAL ART is perfect for gift giving!
The Central Arts District, EDGE District, Grand Central District, Warehouse Arts District and downtown Waterfront District unite once a month for the St. Petersburg Second Saturday ArtWalk. Studios and galleries stay open late on Saturday, Dec. 14 and welcome visitors from 5-9 pm. Discover wonderful surprises, visit your favorite artist or find a new one. All are waiting for your exploration, conversation, purchases, and inspiration. Make an evening of it and stop for dinner, drinks or dessert at a downtown restaurant. Find a map of participating galleries, studios, trolley stops for the FREE ArtWalk Trolley, and parking at stpeteartsalliance.org/artwalk.
Downtown Gulfport gets into the spirit as its streets fill with local artists and artisans. Enjoy extended hours during Gulfport’s December Third Saturday Stroll, the “Holiday Marketplace” edition, on Dec. 21. Shop local and pick up handmade and artistic gifts — all while supporting local families and businesses. The Holiday Marketplace celebrates arts, crafts and — most of all — holiday excitement. Stroll Gulfport’s decorated streets filled with exhibitors and unique shops and artists, as well as locally made crafts, baked goods, and other delightful stocking stuffers.
Pink Flamingo Home Tour tickets go on sale at the event, with special holiday pricing for one day only, and there’s a pay-what-you-can gift-wrap station so you don’t need to worry about wrapping your finds! While downtown Gulfport has free parking, spaces always fill fast, so park in one of the town’s remote lots and hop on the free, ADA-compliant trolley. Find a map of remote parking and the trolley route at mygulfport.us/trolley-3/. While the adults stroll, why not park the kids at the Gulfport History Museum where junior elves can spend an afternoon of holiday crafts and fun! In concert with Holiday Marketplace, Gulfport Historical Society will supply hot chocolate, holiday treats and guided craft activities appropriate for kids aged 3-15. Free (donations accepted to cover the cost of materials), 5301 28th Ave S, Gulfport, Dec. 21, 4-6 pm
Gulfport History Museum has a crafty event for adults too. Do you love looking at Pinterest? Do you love wine? Do you love the idea of making holiday gifts but don’t know where to start? Get going at Gulfport Historical Society’s Pinterest & Pinot event at the Holiday Marketplace! Choose from two projects we found on Pinterest, and make it in a guided session while sipping red wine or Mexican hot chocolate (or both!) and nibbling cheese and other goodies. You can create either Gulfport Coasters, historic photostransferred onto a set of four limestone coasters, or Boca Ciega Bath Bombs, a set of six nautical-themed bath bombs and holders. Learn more and register for one or both projects at gulfporthistoricalsociety.• wildapricot.org/event-3606364. $15 to $50, with discounts for Historical Society members5301 28th Ave S, Gulfport, Dec. 21, 7-9 pm.
Afterglow of SHINE
St. Pete’s world-class public art event, SHINE, is over but the glow keeps burning. Noted Lego artist Jay Hoff worked with Chad Mize and teems from St. Pete’s LGBTQ+ Welcome Center to create “Pride & Love,” the Come Out St. Pete community mural at 2437 Central Ave. SHINE honored the historic Quonset hut-style Royal Theatre, 1011 22nd Street S, with a mural celebrating the history of what used to be one of the movie theaters African Americans could visit. “Inside Out” at 2788 Fairfield Ave S was created by internationally acclaimed street artist JR. Its 300 photographic portraits that cover The Factory St. Pete represents the diversity of the community.Muralist, tattoo artist and Creative Clay teacher Todd Frain painted a mural on the Creative Clay building at 2846 1st Ave S, based on designs by Creative Clay’s member artists. Cecilia Lueza is known for her colorful public art projects, including the “ground mural” at the busy intersection of 5th Street N and Central Ave. She took on the project of beautifying the North Shore Pier, painting the concrete Pier in rainbow hues. Dynasty Financial Partners sponsored the project and pitched in by sending 60 of their people to help paint. Aimed at bringing art to low-income communities, The CLEAN Campaign paints vibrant murals on laundromats around the country. While artists work, The Laundry Projects invites the community to wash their clothes for free. Tampa based artist Cory Robinson brought color to Pete’s Wash House, 1810 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr St. S.Also, keep an eye out for a dozen new works of art decorating metal traffic signal boxes at downtown intersections.
A night at the museum
The Margaret Acheson Stuart Society will host an exciting, one-of-a-kind evening event on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, 6:46 to 9:16 p.m. at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts Marly Room and Gardens. pARTy of the STrAnGE will feature “stage-inspired dress, edgy entertainment, flamboyant food, dramatic drinks, and other surprises,” says co-chair Mary Anna Murphy. “It’s going to be a fascinating evening of performance arts merging with the arts focus of the new museum exhibition Art of the Stage,” adds co-chair Lisa Funsch. Tickets are available on the Stuart Society website stuartsociety.donorshops.com. A limited number of “First in Line” tickets at $100 per person will be available, and after those sell out, “Curtain Call” tickets will be $175 per person. Sponsor and underwriting opportunities are available. For more information contact email party@stuartsociety.org.
NYE @ MFA
Ring in 2020 at the Museum of Fine Arts where all guests enjoy: open bar, complimentary valet parking, photo booth, admission to special exhibition galleries. Reservations are filling up, so be sure to make yours today! Come as a group of eight for the dinner and party and enjoy premium seating reservations, sponsorship recognition, and receive exclusive invitations throughout 2020 to special events and major exhibition previews.
Enjoy dinner and party, 7 pm to 1 am. $275 per person, $500 per couple includes cocktails & hors d’oeuvres in MFA Garden, early fireworks viewing at dusk, gourmet seated dinner, and world-renowned illusionist Mio. Or just come for the party, 9 pm to 1 am. $150 per person, $250 per couple includes unique sweet and savory desserts, music by DJ Curtis Carrasco, midnight champagne toast, prime viewing of the First Night St. Petersburg fireworks. Attire: Dress in your holiday best!
Reservations: 50906.blackbaudhosting.com/50906/NYEMFA–FLIGHTS-OF-FANCY
Recover from your revels at ArtFilm
ArtFlix is a Dalí Museum film series that features art-related documentaries and feature films. The Jan. 2 film is a documentary about Max Ernst, one of the most influential and visionary artists of the past century. The format of the film mirrors the restless reality of his life; an inveterate traveler and always on the move, Ernst lived and worked in Germany, France, and America. His nomadic way of life kept him searching: “A painter is lost if he finds himself.” This film looks at his involvement with the Dadaists in Cologne, his time in Paris, his flight to New York, his life in America, and his return to Europe, revealing the “private, brittle places of refuge” he created at various stages in his life.Date: Jan. 2, 6 -7 pm.Cost: Free
Not Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris
Stroll through the avant-garde hothouse of Paris at a new Dalí Museum exhibit. Midnight in Paris: Surrealism at the Crossroads, 1929 immerses visitors in this rich creative era by examining the works, friendships and rivalries of Jean Arp, André Breton, Luis Buñuel, Alexander Calder, Giorgio de Chirico, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Francis Picabia, Man Ray, Yves Tanguy and others. Open now through April 2, the exhibit features paintings, photographs, film, documents, and sculptures that reveal the personalities of Paris’ iconic Surrealist artists.
More art at the Morean
I Am… is a group exhibition that proposes a new way to further overcome the relative uselessness or ineffectiveness of prejudgment. It proposes to reveal through the lens of a multitude of photographers from various parts of the globe what can be possible in the growing dispersion and development of the human race, images that transcend boundaries and belief systems. Curated by D. Dominick Lombardi.
Perri Neri: Past Tense; Present
Perri Neri (MFA Pratt, BFA University of Tampa) creates expressive large-scale figurative paintings. In her latest body of work, she is “finding ways of thinking about what it means to exist without progress. It starts with a moment, a laugh, a scream, an election…and using the whole of art history as the proverbial cliff, I jump, trying to make relevant my present state of being, before the final thud.”Both exhibits on display Jan. 11 – Feb. 28. Opening reception Jan. 11, 5 to 9 pm.
There’s no business like Arts Business
St. Petersburg Arts Alliance is collaborating with St. Petersburg College to offer a professional development Arts Business Academy for emerging artists, musicians, and writers. During this certificate program, local arts professionals and business leaders will provide training on topics including defining your goal as an artist, pricing, marketing, media, and banking. In addition to the sessions, participants will have access to SPC’s supplemental non-credit workforce training courses. These non-credit courses will help participants develop their professional skill sets and provide a great introduction to other academic options, including effective communication, writing skills, and essentials of marketing.
The cost is $399 per person for six class sessions plus three online classes. Scholarships are available; email tracy@stpeteartsalliance.org for an application. Sessions are held Tuesday evenings beginning Jan. 21 from 6-8 p.m. at the SPC Downtown Center, 244 2nd Ave N. Free parking is available. For more information and to register, please visit STPE.CO/ABA.
A treasure on Treasure Island
The Treasure Island Art Guild (TI-AG), which serves members and guests from the Island and beyond, wants to remind members that you need to re-up in 2020. Rates are $40 individual, $60 family, $20 for students under 25, $10 for associates (non-artists). Membership forms are available online (treasureislandartguild.org) If you don’t sign up, you can’t participate in TI-AG’s monthly award shows or get those nice discounts on classes and workshops.
It wouldn’t be Christmas without The Nutcracker
The St. Petersburg Ballet Conservatory brings the classic holiday entertainment to Gulfport Dec. 13-15 and 20-22. The ballet of The Nutcracker was inspired by the book The Story of a Nutcracker by Alexandre Dumas. Dumas‘ story was an adaptation of the dark fairytale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, written by E.T.A Hoffmann in 1816. The original ballet was created by Marius Petipa and Lev Inavov with a music score composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It was first
performed at the Marinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia (that St. Petersburg), in 1892 (way before today’s classics — It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, and Home Alone. Location: SPBC Blue Theater at the Jonathan & Sarah Bailie Studio 1500 58th Street S, Gulfport. Dates: Dec. 13-15 and 20-22. Prices: $20, $10 for seniors, students & active military.
Art glass galore
Join the staff of the Duncan McClellan Gallery and DMG School Project for their Annual Holiday Staff Artists’ exhibition, Saturday, Dec. 14, 5-9:30pm at Duncan McClellan Gallery, 2342 Emerson Avenue S, St. Petersburg. New works by Mariel Bass, Danyell Bauer, Eric Claycomb, Josh Cocozza, Lauren Hill, and Walter “Scottie” Wald, 6-8 pm: Free Glassblowing demonstration 8-9:30 pm: Live Jazz with the Henry Ashwood Jazz Project
Free admission. For more information see Dmglass.com.
Do well by doing good
Ensure year-end benefits by donating securities to Duncan McClellan Glass School Project. Donating appreciated stock and mutual funds you have held for more than a year can result in significant tax benefits for you and help the DMG School Project inspire and excite children to learn science, math, and history through art. Donations have allowed us to bring the Mobile Glass Lab to disadvantaged schools, provide free demonstrations to students, fund and mentor emerging artists’ careers, provide student field trips to our studio and gallery, give students scholarships and awards, bring in internationally known artists for free lectures and run summer camps. Contact Duncan McClellan at 813.760.6600 or lauren@dmgschoolproject.org.
Holiday of the Arts in Williams Park on December 14-15
Open Saturday – Sunday 10 am – 5 pm. Admission is free. Discover art – and what touches your sense of beauty! Co-sponsored by the City of
St. Petersburg and coordinated by the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, the event showcases original, handmade artwork by artisans across Florida and throughout the USA. Together, their vision and creativity creates an outdoor gallery of indescribable art. Explore creations in painting, sculpture, jewelry, glass, ceramics, fiber and wearable art, photography, digital art, mixed-media, metalwork, woodworking and more. See a diversity of styles and materials within each art medium. Whether for yourself, gifts for family, friends or associates, you will find exceptional art at all price points. If you do not find exactly what you want, commission a piece of art made just for you! These are works that will beautify your home, office space and enrich your daily life. All the artists creating these pieces will be present at the event, many represented in the nation’s most prestigious private art collections and public institutions. While there, take the time to enjoy the beautiful environs that make downtown St. Petersburg such an enchanting destination.
NEW EXHIBIT! – The Lure of Florida Fishing
Catch The Exhibit First! It’s no mystery why Florida developed into the playground of choice for the world’s greatest fishermen and women. Even before the arrival of the Spanish, fishing has been the key to life in the Sunshine State. From the indigenous peoples to the visitors who arrived on Henry Flagler’s trains, millions have been drawn to Florida by fantastic fishing. Come explore this exciting new exhibit at the St. Petersburg Museum of History in our renovated Main Gallery. Admission: Adults – $15; Seniors (65+) – $12; Military (Active Duty & Veterans) – $9; Students – $9; Children 6 and Under – Free, Hours: Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm; Sunday 12-5pm
Want to Receive Unlimited Admission to the Museum ALL YEAR? Become a Museum Member today! Call our guest relations desk at 727.894.1052 ext.200.
St. Petersburg Museum of History, 335 2nd Avenue NE , St. Petersburg, 33701, 727.894.1052, historystpete.org
freeFall Theatre cordially invites you to spend the holidays with the Royal Family. The Lion in Winter plays through December 22. Best known for the film adaptation starring Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn, this viciously funny drama is a high-stakes chess game where the pieces constantly change sides and no one is spared the sword. Henry II has let his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine out of prison to spend Christmas with the family. But more is afoot than decking the halls with boughs of holly. Each has their eyes set on the crown for a different son. Parents, siblings, and the King of France become embroiled in a game of thrones that threatens to destroy them all. With a wildly comic tone, despite its dramatic action, James Goldman’s modern classic is the family drama that lurks beneath the upheaval of history. And you thought your family bickered at the holidays. The Lion in Winter is directed by freeFall Associate Artistic Director Chris Crawford. Performance Information: Until Dec. 22, Wednesday through Sunday, call for show times.
Tickets: Call the box office at 727.498.5205.
Enrichment Opportunities: – Talkback with the director and cast after Friday night performances – December 20.
Epilogue: Resident Dramaturg Timothy Saunders will give a talk immediately following Sunday Matinee performances on
December 1 and December 8. FREE and open to all!
Presenting sponsor: Al May
Community partner sponsors: Rick Behnke & Robert Newell; Hal Freedman & Willi Rudowsky
freeFall Theatre Company
6099 Central Ave., St Petersburg, 727.498.5205 • freefalltheatre.com