No one combines Art and Florida Tourism quite like FloridaRama (stylized “FloridaRAMA”). The arts attraction opened in St. Pete’s Warehouse Arts District in late-2021 with Florida-themed spaces like the Mermaid Star Motel, an homage to Florida’s roadside motels, and an “Everglades Arena,” a central lounge-like space with a projection-mapped video wall that cycles through a day in the Everglades.
Five years later, the space looks touristy as ever with its new airstream parked out front. FloridRama CEO Liz Dimmitt calls it the Artstream, and the mobile mini museum officially premieres during Art Everywhere, Creative Pinellas and Visit St. Pete Clearwater’s new tourist-targeted month-long celebration of culture and creativity.
Seven local artists contributed—Merritt Horan Capurro, Brigitte Coovert, Tyana Hancock, Emilie Hernandez, Latonya Hicks, Kostar and The Rug Lord—filling the camper with miniature worlds, whimsical sculptures and Florida-inspired artwork.
As FloridaRama prepares to celebrate its five-year anniversary with a new Art Everywhere event, FloridaRama Fest, on Saturday, Nov. 14, Dimmitt discussed the growth of immersive arts experiences, the importance of constant innovation and expansion, and being a year-round arts incubator.
A lifelong entrepreneur, Dimmitt committed to bringing a year-round “immersive art experience” to Tampa Bay around 2018, before many people were even familiar with the concept.
She’d done large immersive art experiences in the Tampa Bay area with the Vinik Foundation in the past—The Beach Tampa in 2016, The Art of the Brick in 2017, and Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Room, Love is Calling, at the Tampa Museum of Art in 2018—and saw how much people loved them. But at FloridaRama, Dimmitt soon realized that maintaining demand for a permanent immersive art experience is much harder than building temporary demand for a new, limited-time engagement.
In some ways, she feels that initial naivety helped propel FloridaRama’s launch. “We were a little bit ahead of the immersive experience trend, and there wasn’t a map,” Dimmitt told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
“I didn’t quite understand how hard it is,” she continued. “It’s been very challenging and fun, but also a humbling experience, because it’s hard, and we’ve made mistakes, and we’ve had to learn from them and keep going. So, luckily, in the beginning, you just don’t understand, so you do it. You dive in, and then you’re sort of down the road and you decide, ‘Well, we’re going to keep going.’”
In some ways, Dimmitt feels that FloridaRama is just now hitting its stride. The first year, the team blew it out of the water in attendance because they were new and exciting. It’s been a challenge to keep the locals interested and coming back through the years—they’ve spent the last five years trying to make every year as exciting as the first. And this year, their ticket sales are finally close to those of their first year.
Throughout the process, Dimmitt says finding incredible partners to work with has been key to both staying motivated and expanding on the original idea.
“There’s no greater joy for me than doing an artist studio visit and learning about new artists,” Dimmitt told CL. “We are constantly doing that. We started with 64 artists and now we’re up to 90. That’s always part of it, thinking, ‘how can I expand this?’”
Five years in, Dimmitt is happy to have several of FloridaRama’s original employees still with her, including guest experience guides who became department heads, in addition to several new employees.
But the world, technology, and the local landscape are always changing, so she pairs that growth with innovation.
“There’s just so much competition for people’s time,” says Dimmitt. “You always have to be innovating.”
They added a retail department, events, family-friendly activities, new art and seasonal activations like this year’s immersive haunted experience, Cody Meacham’s Relics & Lore. They learned how to tell a story without all the museum-style didactic information. And through new collaborations, they’re turning FloridaRama into a stage for the performing arts as well.
Each month brings a new way to engage the public. The Arts Everywhere grant-funded FloridaRama Fest and Artstream are just the latest in a series of innovations that have kept FloridaRama fresh for visitors and locals alike these past five years.
Pinellas County’s decision to cut the arts nonprofit Creative Pinellas from its general fund is another change Dimmitt has met with growth and innovation.
“I’m an entrepreneur and I’m running an arts business,” says Dimmitt, “and I see artists as entrepreneurs and business people.
“Our county is known for the arts, especially local arts and culture,” Dimmitt continues. “and if we’re not creating grants and incubating these entrepreneurs, like with technology incubators, who’s going to provide work for all these art businesses? Who’s going to work at FloridaRama? Who’s going to make the art? Who are these people going to be if they don’t have any opportunities? Very rarely is a FloridaRama installation the first thing an artist has done. We’ve had a couple of artists where it was their first ever installation, but that’s the exception, not the rule. We’re usually watching their careers for a while. We’ve seen them at Creative Pinellas, a museum or somewhere. So if they’re not getting those first projects and emerging artist grants, how do they get to us?”
That’s the basic argument Dimmitt tried to make during her two minutes in front of Pinellas County Commissioners last year. It’s also why she’s launching FloridaRama Impact, a new nonprofit dedicated to artistic exploration, creative experiences and positive change, at FloridaRama Fest.
Taking place Saturday, Nov. 14, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., the festival brings a day of art, discovery and local creativity to the Factory campus. For $10 in advance ($15 day of), visitors can explore a campus-wide diorama trail, art fair and local makers market; get a first look inside the Artstream, FloridaRama’s new mobile mini museum; and learn more about FloridaRama Impact. Inside the Mermaid Star Motel, new installations include four colorful wildlife portraits by Florida native Clancy Riehm, featuring a manatee, dolphin, black bear and gopher tortoise, and Cream of Florida Soup, a playful found-object sculpture by Chris Van Vooren. A ticketed VIP preview party takes place Friday, Nov. 13, from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. ($35).
The Artstream will continue traveling Pinellas County long after Art Everywhere wraps, bringing art to schools and large events throughout the year. It’s another way FloridaRama is making the case for art as a year-round commitment.
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This article appears in Nov. 05 – 11, 2026.
