Government. It isn’t the word we typically think of when envisioning a vibrant arts community, but perhaps we should: Government has the power to give art a proper home.
Across Tampa Bay, that’s exactly what governments are doing.
Check out the lead-off story in our spring arts preview, Mitzi Gordon’s piece on Pinellas Park’s innovative approach to housing artists.
Elsewhere in the issue, Julie Garisto reports on a local film project helped immeasurably by the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Film Commission.
In the news section, Kate Bradshaw’s “Creating Pinellas” suggests that the county may finally be getting its act together when it comes to supporting its own homegrown art.
In Hillsborough, the county awarded the Ybor City Museum Society an historic preservation challenge grant to create Discover Ybor, a self-guided walking tour of the National Historic Landmark District. And over the next few months, keep your eyes on towns like Gulfport, long recognized as a haven for all sorts of creatives. Its city council ramped up its support with a $33,000 public art commission to local sculptor Tom Pitzen, who will create seven signs in keeping with the theme of his 2011 sculpture heralding the seaside village’s waterfront district.
Hopeful signs all, but none of it happens without you. Use this issue as your guide to a spring arts season chock full of must-do’s, as chosen by CL critics in multiple genres between now and the end of May. Home is indeed where the art is, but sometimes you have to leave home to experience it.
Enjoy!
—Cathy Salustri
This article appears in Jan 14-20, 2016.