Downtown St. Pete's visual arts renaissance has bloomed from the grass roots on up. Both small businesses, profit and nonprofit, and a comparatively large institution — the 10,000-sq.-ft. Chihuly Collection, with glass artist Dale Chihuly's star power behind it — have opened in the past year. (The Salvador Dalí Museum, which is scheduled to open its new 66,000-sq.-ft. building next to the Mahaffey Theater in early 2011, should make an even bigger splash.)
A good time to take in the full range of St. Pete's visual arts venues, both new and established, is the Second Saturday Gallery Walk, sponsored by the St. Petersburg Downtown Arts Association (stpetearts.org). The next walk takes place on the evening of Sat., Sept. 11. Check individual venues for hours.
Artworks. For years, Creative Clay, a local agency that teaches art-making and practical life skills to people with disabilities, has taken an innovative approach to blending art with business. In addition to exhibitions, the nonprofit produces a line of super-cute merchandise — from temporary tattoos and origami paper to canvas totes and t-shirts — that features quirky, cartoon-ish characters dreamed up by its member artists. (Sales benefit both the agency and the artists.) Now a dedicated storefront, called Artworks, offers even more merch, including handmade clay medallions and lightweight scarves printed with artist Rita L.'s "Tabitha the Mermaid," a smiling redhead surrounded by bubbles. Watch for: Official "grand opening" day, Wed., Sept. 15, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m., snacks and a discount for shoppers. 1128 Central Avenue, 727-825-0515, creativeclay.org.
Bluelucy. Former Boston residents Chad Mize and Phillip Clark, who design websites, logos and animations for commercial clients, showcase their iconic style in one-of-a-kind artworks and collectible, hipster-oriented products like mouse pads, trucker hats, t-shirts and more. Their graphic punch owes something to Warhol (who doesn't?) but the Bluelucy aesthetic — on tap in mixed media paintings of people and animals, and in abstract works — has a color-explosion, pop art vibrancy all its own. Along with Johnny Vitale (see next page), Mize and Clark have been instrumental in forming the 600 Block (sixhundredblock.com), a neighborhood association that represents the cluster of creative businesses emerging along that stretch of Central Avenue. 653 Central Ave, bluelucy.net.
Cakewalk Artists' Co-op. Having once belonged to an artists' cooperative, I initially assumed the easygoing name of this combination gallery-studio space was unintentionally ironic. But somehow, despite the challenges of any truly cooperative endeavor, the more than 25 artists who share Cakewalk's rooms and walls have indeed managed to achieve an effortless-seeming harmony, hosting exhibitions and collaborating to promote their wares, which range from photography and painting to functional pottery and jewelry. A storefront gallery displays monthly themed exhibitions assembled from member artists' work. Managed by Creative Clay, the same agency responsible for Artworks (listed above), the co-op also provides an opportunity for the nonprofit's disabled clientele to work alongside professional artists from the community. Coming up: Metaphor and Mystery, an exhibition featuring paintings by D. Lynn Morris, opening Sat., Sept. 11, 5:30-8:30 p.m. 1114 Central Ave., 727-825-3700, cakewalkcoop.org.
Chihuly Collection. A monumental tower of bright pink, rock candy-like chunks of glass marks the entrance of the Chihuly Collection on Beach Drive. Anchoring the north end of the Drive's growing "arts row" (the Museum of Fine Arts sits on the waterfront nearby, and the Dalí is under construction at the Drive's south end), the Chihuly Collection establishes a permanent Bay area home for work by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. Inside, specially designed rooms — envisioned by Tampa architect Albert Alfonso in collaboration with Chihuly — house the artists' blown glass creations, including yin and yang chandeliers made of spiky red and curling blue glass forms and a "Persian ceiling" under which visitors walk to view a veritable coral reef of Chihuly's rippling, colorful glass forms. 400 Beach Drive, 727-896-4527, moreanartscenter.org/chihuly.
Collective Gallery and Creative Workspace. Art is art, whether you hang it on a wall or wear it on your body, at this upscale 600 Block tattoo studio and gallery. Collective — an endeavor launched earlier this year by partners Mike Wior, Sean Williams and Matt Skinner — taps into a global movement toward blending traditions from graffiti to manga to baroque painting to create dramatic, often psychically dark, figurative art. Built around a custom tattoo studio, Collective's spacious two-room gallery showcases exhibits of artists culled from near and far. Coming up: Collective's second exhibition, which pairs a San Francisco-based spray paint maven with an artist from Cuba who draws surreal anatomical figures, opens on Sat., Sept. 11, 7-11 p.m. 601 Central Ave., 727-851-6767, collectivetattoo.com.
Crislip Arcade. The vision of City Council chair Leslie Curran and other local arts leaders found a supporter in developer Tom Gaffney, who renovated his property, the historic Crislip Arcade, last year to house a community of artists' studios and retail spaces. Beautifully refurbished with new iron gates and other elegant touches, the arcade hosts eight tenants — a mix of individual artists and galleries, including one devoted to Croatian naïve art (croatiannaiveart.com) and 620annex (annex.studio620.org), a retail offshoot of the Studio@620. A stroll through the shady arcade gives visitors a chance to get up close and personal with a variety of artists — from Bill Correira (gallerywoo.com), a brain cancer survivor who paints fish, to Vivian Knox-Thompson (vivianknoxthompson.com), a photographer who formerly made her living selling images to greeting card companies. 645 Central Ave. (Each storefront has its own hours, but most are open Wed.-Sat., 12-5 p.m.)
Mindy Solomon Gallery. Given the impression this private gallery has made on the Bay area arts scene, it's surprising that Mindy Solomon Gallery is still more than a month shy of its first anniversary. Helmed by Dunedin-based collector, curator and arts educator Mindy Solomon, the Beach Drive area space follows traditional white box form — but its predictability ends there. Time and again the site of exhibitions showcasing provocative, playful and technically awesome ceramic sculpture (and, to a lesser extent, photography and painting), MSG has set a new standard for galleries on both sides of the Bay. Coming up: A current exhibition of ceramic sculpture, furniture and mixed-media painting runs through Sept. 25; see "What to Watch For" on p. 18. 124 Second Ave NE, 727-502-0852, mindysolomon.com.
Station Number Three. A 3,200-sq.-ft. fire station built in 1940 serves as home for St. Pete's newest gallery. Scheduled to open on Sept. 11, Station Number Three establishes a visual arts presence just south of the Grand Central area already known for its growing retail and restaurant-bar scene. Fascination, an exhibit featuring Bay area artists Cindy Mason, John Revisky, Claudia Strano, Frank Strunk III and David Williams (whose work is featured on our cover), christens the space, which has been refurbished to maintain its unpolished, industrial feel. (Think exposed beams and concrete floors.) Coming up: Opening reception for Fascination, Sat., Sept. 11, 6 p.m. 2701 Fifth Ave S., stationnumber3.com.
Vitale Art Studio. While he's probably too modest to admit it, artist and designer Johnny Vitale has played a pivotal role in the St. Pete arts community over the past decade, pioneering the art-fashion-music party concept that has since become standard operating procedure in the Bay area. His latest project is a 600 Block storefront that houses his scenic design and graphics production company as well as an art gallery, where some of the region's most talent artists have been known to crop up. Along with Bluelucy and other retailers, Vitale has been a key player in the 600 Block's revitalization. Coming up: Opening reception for a two-person exhibition featuring work by Joshua T. Pearson and Tim Jaeger, Sat., Aug. 28, 8 p.m.-12 a.m. (more details in "See & Do" on p. 43); artist J.S.G. Boggs guest curates a show in October. 651 Central Ave, 727-520-0969, vitalestudio.com.
This article appears in Aug 26 – Sep 1, 2010.