There's nothing like an art hop to bring out the closeted art lovers who, like most of us, never seem to be able to find time to hit all the good galleries in the Bay area.
This Saturday, June 8, the excuses run out. The Tampa Gallery Association's annual summer art hop coincides with the St. Petersburg Downtown Art Association's monthly gallery walk.
TGA's gallery hop takes place from 3 to 8 p.m., with two trolley routes beginning and ending at the Tampa Museum of Art. The trolleys run in 20-minute intervals. Parking for the trolley tours and museum reception is available in the Curtis Hixon Parking garage at Ashley Drive and Twiggs Street. Particpating TGA galleries include Artsiphartsi, Old Hyde Park Art Center, Michael Murphy Gallery, Gold Dragon Gallery and Hillsborough Community College's Ybor Campus Art Gallery.
The DAA gallery walk takes place from 5:30 to 9 p.m., as it does the second Saturday of each month. DAA's 19 participating galleries include The Arts Center, Gallery Enormous, Florida Craftsmen Gallery and The Glass Canvas Gallery. All are found along Central Avenue and neighboring streets in downtown St. Petersburg. For a complete list of galleries and addresses, contact The Glass Canvas Gallery at 727-821-6767.
It's as good an opportunity as there ever is to see and purchase some of the finest art — on both sides of the Howard Frankland Bridge — as well as meet artists and gallery owners.
This article appears in Jun 5-11, 2002.