Back in 1970, Tampa’s Gasparilla season art exhibition was held at the Florida State Fair, and no nudes were allowed. While the Florida State Fair took offense at all the nudes, local artists took offense at their exclusion from the show, and the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts was born. At first it was called the Gasparilla Sidewalk Art Festival, but when the festival moved to Curtis Hixon Park in 1995 it became the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts.
The Gasparilla International Film Festival came to town a little more than a decade later, in 2007, followed by the Gasparilla Music Festival in 2012. A year later, in 2013, Mayor Bob Buckhorn officially proclaimed March Gasparilla Arts Month.
While there’s the similarly named invasion/parade/street party, Gasparilla Arts Month is different, because it’s intended for those of us who prefer feeling inspired over feeling drunk, although the two aren’t mutually exclusive.
Rather than mindlessly eating alcoholic gummy bears out of sandwich baggies (again, we’re not knocking it), try seeing some new movies, discovering new artists, and listening to live music this March. It’s fun catching all those beads, but really, what are you going to do with them the next day? A beautiful painting, on the other hand, can hang on your wall forever.
March 2-3 | Curtis Hixon Park and Kiley Gardens, 600 N. Ashley Dr., Tampa | gasparillaarts.com
235 artists are participating in this year’s GFA in Curtis Hixon Park. The allowable media are ceramic, digital, drawing, fiber, glass, jewelry, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor and wood. And new this year: condoms.
Just to clarify, they won’t be handing out free condoms at GFA this year (that I know of). UT art student Nneka Jones has incorporated condoms into her new sex target series. God, I love mixed media. Never a dull moment.
Jones is one of 15 emerging artists participating in this year’s GFA. In her first sex target piece, the condoms form a bullseye over a young girl's face. It’s about how young girls are often viewed as sex targets, she tells me.
It’s not all condoms, though. Photographer Kirsten Lee recently incorporated a sheet of ice into her photographic process to create interesting abstract images; potter Sondra Elder uses different temperatures to generate interesting crystalline forms in her glazes. Based on what I saw at this year’s preview party, the Gasparilla Festival of Arts is bound to present some interesting artwork.
Collectors should consider attending the associated galaRE at the Tampa Museum of Art Saturday evening. This is the public’s first opportunity to purchase the award-winning art for their private collections. It’s $50 a ticket, but that includes valet parking, catered bites, an open bar and an opportunity to meet the artists.
March 9-10 | Curtis Hixon Park and Kiley Gardens, 600 N. Ashley Dr., Tampa | gasparillamusic.com Over 40 bands will play on five stages at this year’s Gasparilla Music Festival. So basically, they’re cramming as much music as humanly possible into two days. And pretty much every genre of music is represented — indie rock, pop, hip-hop, Americana, blues, country rock, bluegrass, reggae… GMF has it all.
North Carolina Americana combo The Avett Brothers headline Saturday night, and Austin-based bluesman Gary Clark Jr. headlines Sunday night. There’s a lot of great local music leading up to these acts, too, like Fever Beam, Danny & Alex, Glove, Garden Club, Jordan Esker & the 100 Percent, Tribal Style, Fr33dback and Uncle John’s Band. Rather than going only for the band you know, hang out long enough to discover some bands you’ve never heard before. With five stages, there’s bound to be something you like playing at any given time.
Gasparilla International Film Festival
March 19-24 | Opening night at Tampa Theatre, 711 N. Franklin St., Tampa | 6:30 p.m. red carpet; 8 p.m. screening | The rest of the festival takes place at AMC Classic Centro, Ybor 10, 1600 E. 8th Ave., Tampa | Screening times vary | The Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival is now part of GIFF; find the full schedule below | gasparillafilmfestival.com
This year’s Gasparilla International Film Festival promises 140 films in six days. Early this month, GIFF released a sneak peek of some of the films accepted into this year’s festival. The U.S. feature films include Teen Spirit , Hotel Mumbai , You Can Choose Your Family and Cold Brook .
Teen Spirit, a music movie featuring Elle Fanning, looks promising. In it, Fanning plays an aspiring pop star in an American Idol-style singing competition. People are already buzzing about the movie’s soundtrack. Fanning covers songs from Ellie Goulding, Tegan & Sara, Annie Lennox, Orbital, Sigrid and Carly Rae Jepsen in the film. Rolling Stone says, “If Fanning hopes to use Teen Spirit as a springboard to a real-life pop career, she’ll be well positioned to do so.”
In addition to the Fanning-sung tracks, the soundtrack includes songs from Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Grimes, The Undertones, Aqua, Alice Deejay, Whitfield, Major Lazer and No Doubt.
Hotel Mumbai tells the true story of the 2008 terrorist attack on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai. This real-life drama/thriller stars Dev Patel, famous for his roles in Slumdog Millionaire and Lion.
In You Can Choose Your Family, comic Jim Gaffigan plays a father who has chosen two families. That’s right. Two wives, two sets of kids — the whole shebang. IMDb lists it as a comedy.
Fichtner’s Cold Brook tells the story of two friends helping a stranger find his way back home. The indie film took home the Carpe Diem Andretta Award for exemplifying “living life to the fullest” at the Woodstock Film Festival in New York last October.
GIFF’s Made in Florida category features Kandace Miller and David Lee Morea’s We Are Mermaids, a documentary starring Weeki Wachee mermaids. Other interesting selections are a documentary on Satanism called Hail Satan? (we’re serious and also a little disturbed); a zombie film from Japan, One Cut of the Dead; an Irish horror film with a big scary sinkhole, The Hole in the Ground; and a lesbian love story set in 1950s small-town Britain starring Anna Paquin, Tell it to the Bees.
Other interesting selections are a documentary on Satanism called Hail Satan? (we’re serious and also a little disturbed), a zombie film from Japan (One Cut of the Dead), an Irish horror film with a big scary sinkhole (The Hole in the Ground), and a lesbian love story set in 1950s small town Britain starring Anna Paquin (Tell it to the Bees).
The Tampa Bay Jewish Film Festival is technically only part of the Gasparilla International Film Festival, but in reality, it’s a fully-formed festival of its own, complete with opening-night festivities. This festival centers on Jewish life in Israel and outside of it. We’re particularly excited for Tel Aviv on Fire, a satire about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and The Samuel Project, in which a grandfather tells his Holocaust survival story after 75 years. Perhaps the film we’re most anticipating is Seders & Cigars, because it tells the story of Jews in Ybor City.
Opening night includes a screening of Tel Aviv on Fire, hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. Mar. 17, 5 p.m. Bryan Glazer JCC, 522 N. Howard Ave., Tampa. 813-575-5900.
93Queen • March 18, 1 p.m. Studio Movie Grill, 7718 113th St. N., Seminole. 727-894-2200. • March 19, 7:30 p.m. Carrollwood Villagio Cinemas, 11778 N. Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa. 813-498-2800.
The Other Story • March 18, 3 p.m. Studio Movie Grill, Seminole. • March 20, 12 p.m. Carrollwood Villagio Cinemas, Tampa.
A Fortunate Man • March 18, 6 p.m. Studio Movie Grill, Seminole. • March 19, 2 p.m. Carrollwood Villagio Cinemas, Tampa.
Golda’s Balcony • March 19, 10 a.m. Carrollwood Villagio Cinemas, Tampa.
Shoelaces • March 19, 12 p.m. Carollwood Villagio Cinemas, Tampa. • March 22, 11 a.m. AMC Classic Palm Harbor 10, 37912 US Hwy. 19 N., Palm Harbor. 727-942-8476.
The Samuel Project • March 19, 12 p.m. Carrollwood Villagio Cinemas, Tampa. • March 24, 12:30 p.m. Bryan Glazer Family JCC, Tampa.
Rescue Bus 300 • March 19, 5:30 p.m., Carrollwood Villagio Cinemas, Tampa.
Etgar Keret: Based on a True Story • March 20, 10:30 a.m. Carrollwood Villagio Cinemas, Tampa.
Remember Baghdad • March 20, 2:30 p.m. Carrollwood Villagio Cinemas, Tampa. • March 22, 1 p.m. AMC Classic Palm Harbor 10, Palm Harbor.
Stockholm — “A Jewish Comedy” • March 20, 4 p.m. Carrollwood Villagio Cinemas, Tampa. • March 22, 2:45 p.m. AMC Classic Palm Harbor 10, Palm Harbor.
Muhi: Generally Temporary • March 21, 4 p.m. Carrollwood Villagio Cinemas, Tampa.
Morning Trail • March 21, 6 p.m. Carrollwood Villagio Cinemas, Tampa.
Leona • March 21, 6:15 p.m. AMC Classic Centro Ybor 10, 1600 8th Ave., Ybor City. 813-262-8455.
Inside the Mossad • March 21, 8 p.m. Carrollwood Villagio Cinemas, Tampa.
Winter Hunt • March 22, 5 p.m. AMC Classic Centro Ybor 10, Ybor City.
Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz • March 23, 6:45 p.m. Sundial 20, 151 2nd Ave. N., St. Petersburg. 727-502-9573.
Redemption • March 23, 6:45 p.m. AMC Classic Centro Ybor 10, Ybor City.
Working Woman — Q&A with Rachel Harris after the film • March 23, 8:45 p.m. AMC Sundial 20, St. Petersburg.
Seders & Cigars • March 24, 10:30 a.m. Bryan Glazer Family JCC, Tampa.
Bagel Break: Bagels and a schmear in between films. $5. • March 24, 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Bryan Glazer Family JCC, Tampa.
Never Again Is Now • March 24, 2:30 p.m. Bryan Glazer Family JCC, Tampa.
Closing Night: Who Will Write Our History • March 24, 5 p.m. Bryan Glazer Family JCC, Tampa.
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This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 7, 2019.