September signals that the end of summer is nigh, and that soon you will be inundated with Halloween-related everything if you haven’t been already. But before we plunge into the hectic holidays and activities associated with fall, it’s time to head to Sunshine City and break out the SPF a few more times.
The St. Petersburg Festival, with the excellent moniker “SPF 15” for convenient hashtag usage, is a new month-long highlight of all the cultural events that will be kicking off our fall arts season the right way. Featuring fine arts, freshly painted murals, food fairs, craft beer tastings, music, dance and theater, from September 10-27, you won’t want to be leaving the city for the next few weekends.
Hosted by the City of St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, and the Suncoasters, the goal is to market the city as an up-and-coming international arts destination. They want to cast some sunlight on local talent, creative businesses, and cultural communities, because these folks are what make the city exude coolness.
While most SPF events are free and open to the public, some events you’ll need to purchase tickets for. With over 50 events, and more being added to the list, there will be something to appeal to everyone.
Wayne Atherholt, director of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, is already strategizing for this event to grow: “It definitely is laying the groundwork for next year. I think future years will see artists of all types performing, painting, acting and showing their talents on street corners, in pop-up exhibitions, and so much more.
”Many of the attractions in the inaugural festival were already on participating organizations’ schedules before SPF was announced, and are simply being marketed under the SPF umbrella; look for more events created especially for the festival if it grows as planned in future years.
One of the highlights of SPF 15, already the subject of much buzz, is the SHINE Mural Festival. The large-scale paintings, created specifically for SHINE by both local and international artists, have been going up in the past few weeks throughout downtown, most within walkable distance of each other. Given the city’s already vibrant mural scene, the SHINE initiative means the city will soon be a maze of murals; Atherholt even dropped hints about creating a mural arts fund.
“I like to think of St Petersburg as a real theme park for arts and culture.”
Nathan Beard, a local artist whose work is part of Morean Arts Center’s Leave A Message, which opens during the Second Saturday Art Walk on Sept. 12, notices this pulsating, never-at-rest energy in the city. “What I see is a very concerted effort to contribute momentum towards the creation of an outstanding, culturally vibrant, secure and peaceful city that people ultimately want to live in. This is what is so impressive about St Petersburg; there are so many people working so hard in so many different ways to build this city.”
Over the past few years, the “Shop Small” movement has shown the increasing importance of supporting local vendors.
A recent Arts Alliance study reported an estimated $212 million impact from the arts on the city’s economy, not including the income and resulting ripple effect that artists and creative businesses pump into St. Pete’s economy. While that’s a big deal, let’s not forget that art is more than just a monetary investment. There is special intrinsic value that is irreplaceable, since art is what makes life more colorful, beautiful, and fulfilling.
Atherholt explains, “I like to think of St. Petersburg as a real theme park for arts and culture, with specific districts and activities for everyone along with unique niches. We need to let visitors know about this incredible, real, and authentic city that is ever-changing, and these events are a great way to do that.”
To find out more about the St. Petersburg Festival, including all associated events and ticket information, visit stpetefest.org.
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2015.