Last fall artist Dan Lasata put on a memorable solo show at Kahwa South in St. Pete. He told CL contributor Brad Tilbe that he began painting at 8 as "a way to escape into my own little world."

The 32-year-old transplant from Peyton Place, N.H., uses found objects rather than canvas and has been painting since he was 12. His work on skateboard decks has gotten him exposure nationwide.

With influences as varied as Shel Silverstein, M.C. Escher and Thomas Campbell, Lasata appreciates the different muses artists share and wanted to pull together a group of diverse artists for the show at Studio@620 he's curating, Sanity Through Creativity, which opens this week and has its opening reception on May 13.

Initial plans for the show took hold during a chat between Lasata and Nick Hinckley of Studio 620, and together they moved forward with the concept.

"(Hinckley) was and is a huge part of how and why this show came together, Lasata said. "I thank him 1,000 times for seeing where I was coming from and wanting to help make it work."

Lasata had the idea of bringing together a group of artists simply to get together and create art because that's their release, and he likened the experience to the endorphin release people get from sports like running and playing badminton.

He added that he wanted people to come and see the work and not just see an art exhibition, but to get a glimpse of what goes on inside the artist.

"Kind of like a firsthand perspective of what we're really about," Lasata added. "The artists can create freely without the worry of a certain genre, restraints, all that stuff, just create. Once I got the artists on board I pulled them together for biweekly meetings, having Q&A like discussions. We kind of all worked together, like a team and put this together."

Though the show's core theme seems like a no-brainer, Lasata had noticed it hadn't been done before locally.

"It's kind of a concept that I noticed had been missing. Most shows it's like, 'Drop is on this date. Thanks for participating.'"

Lasata wanted to offer a more convivial and connective experience. His idea caught on, word of mouth spread, and he got some well-recognized names in the scene involved.

"In this circumstance, with us all communicating and being on the same page, it's brought together some really beautiful work by every artist," Lasata said. "From Frank Strunk III's kinetic mixed-media pieces, which refer to all working artists, to Nikki Devereux's conceptual illustrations taken from different life experiences.

"It's a solid group of work which I hope all that come to the show will feel that they leave having had an experience."

This article appears in May 12-18, 2011.