Photo via FloridaMuseumOfPhotographicArts/Facebook
'Gary Monroe: Life in South Beach, 1977-1986' is on view at Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in Ybor City, Florida.
“I feel as if this lineup is really diverse in terms of the scope of art in Ybor,” artist and curator Michelle Sawyer told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “I think it’s going to bring a lot of new eyes to different places and sort of open people’s eyes to the variety of types of art that are here in Ybor.”
In addition to Tampa galleries Sawyer has expanded the event to include nontraditional arts venues like tattoo shops, film labs, and retail spaces like Ybor City’s Dysfunctional Grace, which is home to art but also taxidermied animals.
The self-guided tour begins on the west end of Ybor with Coastal Film Lab and Lab theater (stylized “LAB”), where participants can pick up event brochures and wrist bands, preview Coastal’s next open submission gallery show, and tour the theater, where actors rehearse for “Fly Away Home,” a play about Frank Lloyd Wright opening May 2.
While in the historic district, be sure to pick up a free HCC parking pass (available at Coastal Film Lab, Lab Theater, and Hillsborough Community College’s Gallery114), check out new alternative comedy venue The Commodore, sample some bubbly at natural wine bar La Setima Club, and view Tampa and Ybor-themed art by local makers at Orange Blossom Trading Company, which officially cuts the ribbon on Wednesday, April 17.
After that, head east, looking for Tampa Tunes’ painted pianos along the way (the latest just landed at Big Easy Bar). The section of Ybor City surrounding Club Prana has the greatest concentration of traditional arts venues, mostly in the historic Kress building. Don’t miss all the open studios and galleries in this part of town, but also pay Blue Devil Tattoo and Dysfunctional Grace a visit.
Keep pushing east until you hit Stone Soup Company, which has a permanent gallery space with rotating art curated by Tampa Bay artists. Next door, in front of 1920 Ybor, Tampa Tunes displays a piano painted by Carlos Pons alongside an in-progress white-primed piano waiting to be painted by Alyona Garcia-Vianello, and a third piano not yet assigned to an artist.
Gasparilla Distillery and Cocktail Bar should be next on your list, for Bookends Literature and Libations pop-up where Tampa Bay author Tyler Gillepsie reads selections from “Florida Man: Poems, Revisited (7:30-8 p.m.), Paul Wilborn talks about his “Cigar City” and “Florida Hustle” books (8 p.m.-8:30 p.m.), comic book artist Adam Riches displays samples of his artwork, and you can contribute to making a community zine.
Wrap things up about five blocks east with a tour of Factory on Fifth before heading to the afterparty at The Bricks.
By the end of the tour, you’ll likely discover that Ybor City has a lot more art than you’d realized. With downtown Tampa and Seminole Heights art businesses moving in, Ybor City is rapidly establishing itself as Tampa’s leading arts district.
All the growth begs the question, is it time for Ybor City to have a monthly ArtWalk like downtown St. Pete?
Ybor’s new art tenants aren’t sure they’re ready for such a highly organized, regular endeavor, but adding a spring Ybor Arts Tour in addition to the fall tour is a good start. And with Kress Contemporary regularly hosting multiple art openings on the Third Thursday of each month, it’s possible that a monthly art walk could form organically.
Preview what an Ybor City monthly art walk might look like at the first spring Ybor Arts Tour happening Thursday, April 18, 5 p.m.-9 p.m., starting at Coastal Film Lab and Lab Theater. 1704 N. Nebraska Ave. (Coastal Film LAN) and 812 E. Henderson Ave., Tampa (LAB Theater Project). Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.
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