Winner: Capria Pichette
Second Place: Melissa Smith
Runner Up: Monica Francis
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Previous Winners
Best of the Bay 2019 Arts & Entertainment: Our readers and critics pick the best in local theater, poets, museums and so much more.
Critics' Picks
Best New Tech In An Art Museum
Best Neighborhood Haunted House
Best Play That Would Have Made You Think Had You Bothered To See It
Best Maybe The World Is Going To Shit But This Play Makes You Forget
Best Show Coated In Behr’s English Daisy
Best Theatrical One-Man “Band”
Best Art Exhibit That Punched You In The Gut
Best 50- Year Anniversary Art Show
Best Human Photography For A Cause
Best Pet Photography For A Cause
Readers' Picks
Best Book By A Local Author Published In The Last 12 Months
Best Gallery (Non-Museum) Show
Best Small Concert Venue (Under 2,000 Capacity)
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Hillsborough Community College
Hillsborough Community College celebrated its 50-year Anniversary, and to commemorate it, HCC the Ybor and HCC campus gallery curators teamed up for one hell of an anniversary art show. The really awesome thing about this collaboration is that the college expanded its permanent art collection in the process, ensuring that HCC students and the greater Tampa Bay area will have access to quality locally-made artwork for years to come.
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Winner: Jorge Diaz
Second Place: Harold Oehler
Runner Up: Matthew McGee matthewmcgee.org
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Winner: Annie Sardouk anniesardouk.com
Second Place: Mercy Roberts
Runner Up: Alicia Thomas itsmealicia.com
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Whigfest
Over the summer, WMNF program director Randy Wynne suggested that the community radio station may revive its summertime Tropical Heatwave festival for one year only in 2020. We haven’t heard anything about the revival since July, but at least we’ve got Whigfest to fill the void. Liz Cooper, Tyler Childers and Trampled By Turtles all provided plenty of power alongside a healthy bill of locals that took over a handful of Ybor City venues during the magical weekend. whigfest.com
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Tom Kiefer’s “El Sueño Americano” At Artsxchange
Whether or not you agree that every human has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness on our shores, it’s hard to argue that it’s OK to keep humans in cages. Tom Kiefer, who worked as a janitor at U.S. Customs and Border Patrol in Ajo, Arizona, began collecting images of things CBP deemed “nonessential” for immigrants to be able to keep as they detention centers. It was the childrens toys that broke me, but everyone who saw this exhibit at The ArtsXchange had a different trigger moment. tomkiefer.com
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Winner: Dunedin Fine Art Center dfac.org
Second Place: ArtPool artpoolrules.com
Runner Up: Morean Art Center moreanartscenter.org
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Winner: Painting With A Twist paintingwithatwist.com
Second Place: Practically Pikasso practicallypikasso.com
Runner Up: Nude Night
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‘Rulers’ At Coco Hunday
In response to living in an era of terrible rulers, Seminole Heights gallery Coco Hunday, invited artists to submit their own measuring devices with “mechanical, political, or poetic implications” for the exhibition called “RULERS.”
Works of art were priced for $100 or less with all proceeds being donated to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. This non-discriminatory call for artists brought in pieces from emerging and professional artists and one entry from a two-and-a-half year old. Organizers Sue Havens and Jason Lazarus filled coolers with booze and Capri Suns, ordered pizzas and let the community gather for good and snag a one-of-a-kind piece without taking a cut of the profits. Coco Hunday raised more than $1,500 during the opening reception alone in June. cocohunday.com
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The Catherine Wheel At Museum Of Fine Arts St. Petersburg’s Theo Wujcik ‘Cantos’ Exhibition
Visual artist Wujcik was the pied piper of the late ‘80s Ybor creative scene, and many great local bands cut their teeth at the area’s clubs. One of the most popular got back together for this one-off reunion show at the MFA back in April during a particularly interesting showing of Wujcik’s work; The Catherine Wheel was in fine form, and the crowd could’ve been the same one you mingled with at Impulse 30 years ago. mfastpete.org —Scott Harrell
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